


Hearts Schools Musical

by NeedsMoreAU



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - High School Musical Fusion, Feelings Realization, Fluff, I made Organization XII a skater gang because I can, Kissing, Meet-Cute, Multi, Musicals, OT3, Pining, Queer Characters, Riku Is Bad at Feelings (Kingdom Hearts), Singing, Trans Female Character, Trans Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Utada Hikaru songs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 46,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24986542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeedsMoreAU/pseuds/NeedsMoreAU
Summary: Kairi is the new transfer student who needs to get her feet under her and track down the adorable stranger she shared a winter party duet with.Sora is the friendly sports star who's beginning to wonder if he can be anything more.Riku is the sparkly drama kid nursing a gigantic crush on his best friend (and maybe something for that cute redhead...)Its HSM and Kingdom Hearts mixed together, stirring occasionally, and baked to fluffy fanfic goodness.
Relationships: Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Riku Replica (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé/Riku Replica (Onesided) (Kingdom Hearts), Riku & Riku Replica (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas & Sora & Vanitas & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

Sora bounced the ball against the painted brick, catching it in his scoop before hurling it back, another _thump_ , and then he was catching it again, tossing it back.

The rhythm felt good. The squeak of rubber on the wall mixing with the squeak of his shoes. The repetitive motion of scoop, swing, toss keeping him in the moment as his thoughts zinged around, bouncing from one thing to the next. What he’d had for lunch. _Thump_. What he’d tell Rox about when he saw him next. _Thump_. How he should wrap Riku’s present. _Thump_.

“Sora,” a voice interrupted behind him. “We didn't come all this way for you to practice more lacrosse” He turned, the rhythm stopped. Mom stood near the door, her arms crossed, but a playful smile telling Sora she was only joking.

“But Mom, the season starts in like six weeks,” Sora whined. He leaned on his stick, using it as a crutch as he feigned weakness. “If I don't get the practice in now, by the time of our first game, I’ll be all shriveled up.” Mom shook her head, her earrings twinkling in the lights, bouncing spots of light around the room as she laughed.

“Something tells me you’ll survive for one night.”

“Oh, if he wants to spend his new years eve by himself, missing the party, then we might as well let him.” Tina came in, instantly slotting herself by her wife’s side, leaning up and against her shoulder.

“You're just saying that because _you_ want to miss the party,” Mom grinned. Tina blinked up at her innocently.

“Maaaybe.”

“You two are ridiculous. We’re on _vacation_! Isn't the point to relax and go to parties?”

“Maybe for you,” Sora and Tina answered at the same time. They shared a quick, evil grin. Mom just sighed, turning to Tina.

“If you don't want to go,” she took her hands, looking her in the eye. “We can just go back to the room. I just need to say hi to some people, and then I'll be good.”

“Oh.” Tina glanced down, flustered. “I was mostly joking. I do want to go. Like you said, this is our vacation, we didn't come to a different state so I could curl up in the hotel room and read,” she thought for a moment, then amended her statement. “Well, mostly.”

“You’re sure?” Mom pressed.

“Of course. I've got plenty of time to be antisocial once we’re back home. I only get one night with my hot date at a new years eve party hosted by a ski lodge.”

“Aww. I promise, we won't stay out all night.” She gave Tina a quick kiss, then shot a look over at Sora. “That goes for you too. Don't do anything I would do.”

“Hey! When would I ever?” Sora joked. Mom sighed, conceding his point.

“I'm still praying for that day to come. Anyways, the teen’s party is downstairs by the lobby.”

“On it Chief.” He gave a mock salute, ducking out to put his stuff away.

Sora really did like parties. He liked meeting new people, and he liked the people he knew. Back home, he was rarely seen without Ven or Van or Roxas or another teammate by his side. But at the ski lodge he and his moms were staying for break, he hadn't quite… figured everything out. Back home, everyone knew him, knew that he sometimes rambled on for too long or switched topics randomly or tried as hard as he possibly could to be friends with everyone he ever met.

He’d tried, over the past few days, to strike up conversation with some of the other people he met on the slopes, but the second anything moved beyond pleasantries, they’d politely excuse themselves. And besides, he'd already neglected lacrosse too much. If he came back to school without having put in any practice, Terra would frown in that disapproving way that made Sora feel like he was a little kid who’d just committed some sort of toddler-crime. Still, he felt relatively hopeful as he pushed open the door that was indicated by the glittery sign in the lobby as ‘Teen Hangout!’.

The music washed over him, streamers and tinsel and brightly colored clothes screamed in happy cacophony, all overlain with the sugary smell of punch mixed from a packet. A karaoke stage was set up in the center of the room, where a guy in a sparkly shirt was crooning to some pop song Sora vaguely recognized. He made his way over to the buffet, where he spent five minutes fawning over the little bites of brownies (They were so small!). By the time he had a plate of food, he’d somehow forgotten that he’d even been nervous. He went looking for new people to meet.

“And then, I spiked it back, and he goes to catch it, but he misses, and then it hits him square in the face. And there's the whistle, and I go to explain that it wasn't my fault that the guy doesn't know the difference between his hands and his jaw, but then-” Sora stood at the edge of a group, listening to story being told by a tall teen wearing a headband that lit up in the numbers of the next year. He was just about to jump in with his own anecdote, when a mike was thumped, sending static over the room.

“And that was sure a performance! Next up, we’ll be selecting _two_ partygoers for a surprise duet. And those lucky songbirds are….” A new guy had taken the stage, his excitement in something that had everyone else in the audience murmuring nervously, loudly proclaiming him as the party organizer in charge. A beam of light slowly tracked over the crowd, illuminating faces that quickly ducked out or turned away. Looked like Sora wasn't the only one not exactly excited at the prospect of being put on the spot. It whirled around, and now he could see two spotlights. He was so immersed in following the second one that it took him several seconds to register that he was standing in a circle of light.

“No, I don't sing,” he protested, but the group he’d been standing near was clapping, and some sort of party enforcer was escorting him to the stage. He almost tripped on the steps up, and then he was the center of attention in this room of teens he didn't know.

_Well_ , he thought, gulping, _at least I'll be out of the state tomorrow_. And then he looked up, and saw the similarly uncomfortable girl standing across from him.

Her thick auburn hair completely obscured her face as she hung her head, arms crossed and gripping her elbows, her pink dress almost glowing under the stage lights. She approached her mike like it was some kind of venomous snake that would bite if she made any sudden movements. Sora leaned over.

“Hey. I promise, however bad you think you are, I’m worse.” He tried to grin encouragingly. “Do you want to be doofuses together?” She lifted her head. Blue eyes, and just a hint of a smile, gazed up at him.

Sora immediately decided what he was going to do.

He turned, and gripped his mike. The first notes began to float through the air as the lyric display lit up. Thank god, he at least recognized the song. He started singing. Loudly.

“ _When you walk away, you don't hear me say. Please, oh baby, don't go._ ”

She glanced over, eyes wide with surprise. Probably because he’d picked up the mike stand, leaning into it like a rockstar. Goofily, he started wiggling his hips to the music. _Please_ , he tried to communicate telepathically as their eyes met. _Please feel secure enough to at least have fun with it. You look so uncomfortable_. Someone in the crowd started clapping as Sora shrugged off his jacket, still dancing to the beat.

“ _You're giving me too many things lately. You're all I need._ ” He hadn't sung since he was a kid, braiding Tina’s hair while she hummed songs and walked him through melodies. He threw his head back and bellowed the next note. “ _You smiled at me and said,_ ” There was the smile, bigger now, as she hesitantly leaned in.

“ _Don't get me wrong, I love you,_ ” Her arms came uncrossed, and she wrapped them around the mike as she sang. “ _When we are older you’ll understand what I meant when I said ‘No, I don't think life is quite that simple._ ”

Sora almost missed his line, because he was staring at this girl and _woah she can sing I was not prepared for that_.

His focus narrowed, and the rest of the room fell away, and it was just the two of them, breathing shared notes into the chorus.

“ _Please, Oh baby. Don't go. Simple and clean is the way that you’re making me feel,_ ” They drew out the word, staring at each other as they both danced. Sora smiled, and she was smiling too, and they were both there, together, singing. The lights were gone, the crowd was gone, and the stage they were standing on might not have been there at all, because Sora felt like he was floating. She reached up to tuck some hair behind her ear, but then seemed to reconsider and just threw her head back as she belted the lyrics.

“ _It's hard to let go!_ ” The momentum almost tipped her backwards, but Sora reached out and grabbed her hand, and they were suspended like that.

Then, she smirked, pulling herself upright but not dropping his hand. It was his line, so he took his mike from the stand, and sang more.

“ _Hold me. Whatever lies beyond this morning._ ” And then he was trying very hard not to stop as she brought their hands up and spun him, like this was some sophisticated dance, and he had to try to remember his line while not tripping over his feet and not swooning because this girl was holding his hand and singing and her eyes were blue blue blue and her dress and cheeks were pink pink pink and she was smiling and he was smiling too and then they were singing together, a perfect harmony.

“ _When you walk away, you don't hear me say,_ ” Sora leaned in, and she did too, almost like they were just now remembering steps to a dance that hadn't existed until a moment ago. It just occurred to him, as he read his next line, that they were still holding hands. “ _Hold me, whatever lies beyond this morning._ ”

She let go, not abruptly, but softly, her fingers trailing off as she brought both hands to the mike, pouring more and more soul into the lyrics.

“ _Regardless of warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all._ ”

And then, before he could fully wrap his head around the weird hitch in his heartbeat, they were on the final lyric. Sora met the girl's eyes, and saw the same bewildered wonder.

“ _Nothing’s like before._ ”

The last note died, and it was over.

There was a beat. Both he and the girl were out of breath, and they were flushed and then-

And then the crowd erupted.

Sora was pulled back to earth as cheers and applause threatened to knock him over because everyone was surrounding them and congratulating and somewhere in the shuffle he found the space to stick out his hand to the girl and say,

“I’m Sora.”

She took it, and that smile didn't vanish even though the music was gone.

“Kairi.”

-

As soon as he was off the stage, everyone swarmed, chattering and complimenting. The group he’d been loitering near before was waving him over, one girl holding a cellphone and gesturing for a photo, but then the in-charge guy was back on the stage, telling everyone the fireworks would start in not too long and they should head to the lodge’s balcony early if they wanted to secure their spot. As the crowd started to move away, Kairi reached out and grabbed his hand.

“Pretty good for someone who said he couldn’t sing.” She raised one eyebrow. Sora lifted his free hand to ruffle the back of his hair.

“I mean, I really just said I’d be worse than you, and I would have had to work pretty hard to top,” he gestured vaguely. “That.”

She blushed the lightest pink.

“Yeah, well. Let’s just say we were both good and move on.”

“I mean, I don't think we can necessarily count me as-”

“Are you kidding?” she interrupted. “When you first started singing, I thought for a half second I was just hearing the actual track. Have you ever done anything like that before?”

“Um… Not reeeally?” He felt his hand go to his hair again, and forced himself to hold still. “I mean, my tina, that's what I call my mom, cause I’ve kind of got two and one of them’s already ‘Mom’, so I call the other one tina because she Somoan and that's the word for mother in her language and anyways, my tina, she used to sing when I was a kid, like, when we were doing chores and stuff, and I’d kind of copy her back and that's how we passed the time so short answer no I've never sang in front of a crowd before excepting my moms and they don't really count, so, no, how about you?” His train of thought slowly arrived at the station, and he realized Kairi was staring at him.

“You know, Sora, I think I've figured out why you can sing so well!”

“Really? Why?”

“You don't need to breathe.” She poked him in the stomach.

“Hey!” Then he realized Kairi was laughing. Sora let out a small chuckle. “I um, sorry, sometimes get caught up in between thinking and words.”

“No need to apologize.” She waved him off. “Honestly, you just told me more about yourself than most people do in an entire conversation. It's pretty refreshing, actually. Now, let me return the favor.” She thought for a moment. “You have your mom and your tina, I have my dad. He works for this tech startup, and because of that we’re moving at the end of the week. No, I've never sang in front of anyone else before tonight. I just practice in my room, and I like it, but the thought of other people,” She did a fake shiver. “Terrifying.”

“Well, you faced one terrifying thing tonight, so good job!” He held up a hand for a high five, and Kairi returned it. He tried not to feel bad that she was moving, because they would have had to say goodbye tomorrow anyway. With that thought, he pulled out his phone. “Hey, why don't we swap numbers?”

“Sure!” She rummaged around for a second. “Ugh, I keep forgetting. Dresses don't have pockets.” With a flourish, she pulled a phone from the inside of her sock and handed it to him. “Sorry if it smells.”

“No big deal. Mine’s been in my gym bag, so that's probably worse.”

“Oh?” She looked up from the contact she was making. “You’re a sports man?”

“Excuse me, the correct term is ‘jock’,” He playfully corrected. Kairi rolled her eyes.

“Okay, are you a _jock_ then?”

“Lacrosse,” he admitted. “What about you?” Kairi hummed, tapping away at the screen.

“Nothing really. PE credits to graduate and that's about it.” She shrugged and passed his phone back. “I want to get serious about debate team this semester, but I’ll have to see how well I do at my new school first.” As she recollected her phone, she jerked her head in the direction people were slowly filtering out. “Want to watch the fireworks with me?”

“Of course.” He followed. “So, debate team. What's that like?”

Kairi’s eyes lit up as she told Sora about competitions she and her friends had gone to, difficult topics, or particularly clutch victories. It reminded Sora of Riku, the spiels he’d go on when he started talking about shows he’d done. In fair trade, he swapped her stories about the team, about Roxas’s utter wipeout on dewy grass during the most important game of the season, or the 300 dollar betting pool on what Vanitas’s real hair color was.

“See, he's been dyeing it since he was like, ten, so no one’s ever actually seen him natural, and even though you can _clearly_ see the bottles in his locker, whenever anyone brings it up, he absolutely denies it. And Ven thinks the whole thing is hilarious, so he's no help. I think even Terra’s put some money in, even though he probably _really_ shouldn’t, being the coach and all, but he doesn't really take the whole ‘adult supervision’ thing too seriously.” He pushed his way through the doors outside, drawing his jacket tighter as the bite of the night air hit him. On the way over, Kairi had managed to snag a blanket from one of the lodge couches, and was wearing it wrapped around her like a shawl.

The view was incredible though, more than making up for the cold. The dark mountain range lined the horizon, dark and craggy and the perfect picture frame to the dark blue sky that was littered with stars. The Milky Way trailed through the sky, almost cutting it perfectly in half, and the warm twinkling of the fairy lights twined on the railing felt like the only gleam of civilization for miles. Everything else was illuminated by the soft, almost unnatural, glow of the moon reflecting off the snow, bathing the ground in a pale silver.

“Whoah,” they both exhaled, the fog of their breath mingling together. Sora turned to Kairi, who looked dumbstruck. He felt similarly, the _thump thump thump_ of beat that he’d heard as he practiced earlier now echoing somewhere inside his chest.

“It's so pretty.” Her eyes were wide, the twinkling reflection of stars shining perfectly in the light blue. Sora felt warmth spread over his cheeks. He turned back to the sky.

“I didn't realize when everyone talked about light pollution blocking the stars, the difference was so,” He searched for the word. “Drastic.”

“I’m going to miss it.” She leaned against the railing, still gazing up. “I've lived here almost my whole life. What happens if I never see anything like this again?”

“Well, you can always remember tonight then.” Sora stepped up beside her, gently knocking his shoulder against hers. Kairi smiled at that, pulling herself away from the stars and turning to look at him. “And you can find other things that are just as pretty.”

Kairi took a shuddering breath.

“I know. It's just, what if I'm never like,” She waved a hand back at the lodge. “That, again? I told you, I’m not that girl that gets up and sings.”

Sora hummed. He wanted to choose his words carefully, so they just stood like that, drinking in the view, pressed shoulder to shoulder.

“When I play,” he started. “It's like someone just flips this switch. Usually, my brain goes a mile a minute, and I can barely keep up. But on the court, it just clicks. Like, I still jump around, but it just flows, instead of going on ahead without me.” He glanced over to see if any of this was making any sense. It still felt weird, no matter how many times he tried to explain it. His moms, his team, they’d heard it before, but Sora never felt like they were the right words. That he couldn't really say what he meant. But Kairi, even if she didn't look like she understood, nodded for him to go on. Like she was really trying to. He swallowed, and continued. “And I thought that was the only thing that did that. But tonight, when I sang with you. It was like that feeling, that I was finally in tune with everything. Singing with you was… really good, Kairi. So if you aren’t that girl, the one who gets up and sings so well that she captivates a whole room,” He shrugged. “That's fine. But everyone else is definitely missing out.”

Kairi smiled. It felt like fireworks going off.

Also, the fireworks were going off. Bursts of red and blue exploded over the peaks, and a cheer went up from the crowd. The two of them jumped. Midnight had come around without them even noticing. The sparks rained down, and more rockets sailed up to replace them, lighting the sky with silver and gold and green as everyone started whooping.

They watched them together, ignoring the people pressing in and celebrating all around. It was just the two of them, on a balcony, watching fireworks. Eventually though, Kairi pulled away.

“I better go find my dad.” She looked at him apologetically. Sora patted her on the shoulder.

“Yeah, I should too.” Realizing what he’d univertantly said, he laughed. “I mean, not my dad, but you get the point.”

Kairi smiled at the joke. She turned away, making her way through the throng of people, but Sora shouted after her.

“Kairi!”

She stopped, then glanced back at him. Sora put on his biggest grin, wrapping his hands around his mouth to form an impromptu megaphone.

“Happy new year!”

She chuckled, and waved. Then, she turned.

And then she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand its finally published. This is one of those 'No-one-asked-for-it-but-Im-writing-it-anyway' fics, and let me say, I am just having a blast with it. This will be a longer chaptered story, updating on Mondays until it's complete. Feel free to comment below, and if you're enjoying the story, I hope to see you back here next Monday!


	2. Chapter 2

So far, Kairi could honestly say that she liked California. The scenery, at least. She hadn't quite gotten the hang of the people yet, all tourists and hipsters and people like her dad who considered a suit and tie ‘Business casual’, but everything about the state was exactly the way it was supposed to be. Eye achingly blue sky, palm trees dotting the sides of streets, and the warm beat of sun that seemed to permeate everything. And everywhere she went, the beach was just a hop on a bus away, which she thought was a certain kind of awesome. Plus, the food was _amazing_.

Dad had offered to let her take a few days off before she started school, getting adjusted to the new house and new city, but she’d refused. What was the point of moving during a break, if not so she could start the semester alongside everyone else? Besides, the more work she missed, the more she’d have to make up later.

So, with only two days of California under her belt, Kairi found herself standing outside of the principal's office at her new high school.

“Ah, Miss Kairi.” A tall man, with crinkled eyes and dark hair pulled into a loose updo, poked his head out the door. “I'm glad to see you. I'm Principal Eraqus. I'll be showing you around this morning.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said, trying to ignore the generic annoyance that came with being guided through the school by a teacher. Really, the campus wasn’t even that large, she could find her way around.

But Principal Eraqus proved to be surprisingly helpful without being overbearing. He pointed out the main areas, the cafeteria, the gymnasium, the stage, breaking down the general structure of how the classrooms were organized. He let her ask any questions she had, then pulled a map out and circled all of her classes. And, once he was certain Kairi wouldn’t immediately get lost, he just handed her the map, gave her a bright smile and an ‘I'm sure you'll do very well here, Miss Kairi’, and simply left her to her own devices. All in all, she felt pretty relieved with how painless the whole thing was.

She’d come here early to get settled and meet with Mr. Eraqus, but a glance at the big wall clock in the commons told her that the quick meeting still left a good ten minutes before the bell rang. There were a few students milling through the halls, but none of them seemed to pay her much attention. She decided to take advantage of the light traffic and head over to her first class.

A few turns past lockers and water fountains, Kairi was able to find her way to the classroom. She wasn't even the first person to get there either. Another student was stood at the teacher's desk, talking to a woman with a long brown ponytail.

“It's Xion. And um… she/her.”

“I understand,” The teacher smiled. “I’ll try my best to remember that. And please correct me if I ever mess up.”

“Sure,” the girl mumbled awkwardly. She fiddled with the zipper of her hoodie, eyes downcast. Then, she turned back to the desks. As she did, she finally saw Kairi, who was trying to put down her stuff at a desk as quietly as possible. Xion jumped.

“Oh.” was all she said. She fidgeted more with her zipper.

Kairi decided to break the ice.

“Hi,” she took a step forward and extended her hand. “Xion, right?”

Slowly, a smile spread over Xion’s face. “Yeah! That's me.” She shook Kairi’s hand.

“I was worried I’d be the first one here,” Kairi confessed, plopping into her newly claimed seat. To her surprise and delight, Xion took the one next to her.

“Yeah, I just had some-” her eyes glanced to the teacher, who was humming to herself as she organized papers. “Stuff to get cleared up. What about you? Just that excited to get back to school?” Kairi laughed.

“No, I just moved here. This is my first day. Got here early to get my bearings. Oh! I'm Kairi, by the way.”

“Well, Kairi, it's nice to meet you. How was your break?”

Kairi’s mind immediately flashed to New Years eve, to watching fireworks with a complete stranger and singing enthusiastically on a makeshift stage. Sora had actually texted her, something that honestly surprised her, on and off since the beginning of the year. They’d swapped memes they found funny, and chatted sometimes about absolutely nothing. But Xion wouldn't be interested in that. She switched to recalling those days around Christmas, to mornings spent sitting around the fire drinking coffee and afternoons spent zipping down the slopes.

“It was good. I went skiing with my dad. How about you?”

Xion shrugged.

“Can’t complain. Just went to the rink a lot.”

“Oh, you skate?”

“Rollerblade.” She stuck out her tongue and raised her hands in crossed signs of the horn. “I have a group of friends at the local college around here. We meet up on weekends, go to parks, stuff like that.”

“That sounds awesome.” She bent down to rifle through her bag, retrieving her notebook. “Yeah, I had a team back home for debate club, I’m going to look to see if there's something similar around here.” Xion perked up at that, leaning closer in as Kairi rummaged for a pencil.

“Oh, actually I-” Whatever she’d been going to say was cut off as the bell rang. In a wave, students filed in, joking and laughing as they took their seats, and Xion and Kairi were busied scrunching into their seats so they didn't accidentally trip anyone.

Once everyone was settled in, the instructor cleared her throat. All students' heads turned. The teacher stood in front of the classroom, twirling a ruler like a baton as she waited for the murmurs to subside. She cleared her throat again, though not as commandingly this time.

“It's lovely to see all of you again. New semester, woo!” A few halfhearted cheers followed. She just grinned wider, the ruler spinning faster as she tilted her head, surveying her audience. “Come on, I know you can do better than that. Hayner-” As quick as it was spinning, the ruler stopped, pointing at a tired looking guy seated in the first row. “What did you do over break?” Startled, Hayner jerked, which had the unfortunate disrupting the balance of his chair, as he’d been leaning back in it, precariously supported by two legs. Hayner was sent sprawling to the ground. Several giggles erupted.

“Ms. Aerith,” he groaned from the floor, “Do you have some sort of vendetta against me and my tough guy pride?”

“I have a vendetta against anyone who comes into my classroom looking like they'd rather be anywhere else,” she huffed. “Every year, you kids come back from winter break looking like zombies that just smelled sour milk. I’ll have you know, I think of myself as at least moderately entertaining, especially for an english teacher.” As if to illustrate the point, she tossed the ruler into the air, letting it spin once, twice, before snatching it back. “Now. Hayner. What did you do over break?”

“How was _your_ break, Ms. Aerith?” A cheery voice called from the back of the room.

Every single student (Including Hayner, who managed to wriggle into a somewhat upright position just so he could deliver a dirty look), turned to stare at whoever had spoken.

Even Kairi, except when she did, all snark she was thinking came to a screeching halt.

Brown, spiky hair. Freckles. Constantly moving fingers, currently drumming on the desktop. A smile so bright it should probably come with a warning label.

Sora.

“Oh! It was actually quite nice. Me and some friends-” Ms. Aerith was talking, but Kairi wasn't listening. She kept staring, and as everyone else looked back to follow the story being told, Sora glanced over and his eyes widened.

He’d seen her.

Hoping it didn't look as awkward as it felt, Kairi gave a small wave. Sora grinned, delivering back a thumbs up. They sat there, both trying to use minute facial expressions to communicate to the other _Holy wow I never thought I’d see you again and here you are in my english class I am mildly freaking out and very excited because what are the odds we need to talk as soon as possible_. Kairi was much better at this managing to get almost the entire message to Sora using only her eyebrows and faint smiles. Sora, on the other hand, just looked vaguely dumbstruck and bounced up and down in his seat, which Kairi correctly guessed meant about the same thing as what she was trying to say.

“-please don't tell Mr. Cloud I told you that.” Oh right, Ms. Aerith was still talking. Kairi forced herself to swivel back around in her chair. She tried to listen, because honestly what Ms. Aerith was saying sounded really funny, the whole class was snickering whenever she mentioned another member of the faculty. Apparently, all the staff got along pretty well here, hanging out outside of work and over break. But, no matter how hard she tried, none of the words seemed to stick. And her focus didn't return even as the syllabus was passed out, but that didn't really matter as much, because everything Ms. Aerith was going over was already printed on the paper. She just placed it in her folder, then went back to staring at the clock and waiting for the hands to move to the desired position. Occasionally, she exchanged glances with Sora over her shoulder, and they both smiled like it was some private joke.

Eventually, after not hearing a single word in the past hour, the bell rang. There was a very good chance Kairi was the first out of her seat, and Xion just gave her a weird look as she rushed past her and to the back of the room.

“Sora!” she exclaimed. He was out of his seat too, and rushed over nearly as fast. They met in the middle.

“Kairi?”

“I didn’t know-”

“I didn't think to ask-”

“Yeah, you think it would have come up-

“What are the odds?”

“I mean, it's got to be unlikely, right? Like, this is weird.”

“Absolutely weird!” he laughed.

“So.” Xion cleared her throat. “You two know each other?”

“Glad I wasn’t the only one confused.” A blonde kid, the one she’d vaguely seen in her periphery as she gawked at Sora, rolled his eyes. Sora turned, smiling that big dopey grin.

“Yeah! We met over the break! I didn’t even think we’d see each other again!”

“And I didn't tell him I was moving to California,” Kairi interjected. “And he never told me where he lived, so, it’s a bit of a surprise.”

“I’ll say! Kairi, where are you headed next?” Sora bounced, grinning from ear to ear. Kairi dug in her bag for the map Principal Eraqus had given her, peering over the markered-in route.

“Uhm, Stagecraft,” she answered. Sora’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

“Me too! Do you want to walk with me?”

“I'm going to AP calc.” Xion added. “I'll catch up with you at lunch, okay? And you will tell me,” She pinned Kairi with her stare. “Everything. Later!” And with a peace sign, she darted out.

“I'm headed that way, but I’ll have to peel off before we get to the arts wing.” The boy beside Sora popped some earbuds in. Sora beamed, linking his arms with the two of them. He steered them into the hallway, calling a goodbye to Ms. Aerith as they passed her desk.

“Anyways, Kairi! How are you liking California? How long have you been here? What’s your new place like?” Sora spewed off questions a mile a minute, and Kairi did her best to answer each of them. She liked the climate. She’d been here four days. The new house was great, but a bit empty, because they were still unpacking. At some point, the blonde left their group, vanishing into the flow of people. Sora and Kairi stepped around a group of kids chatting, and found themselves staring directly at the glittery letters on a poster taped to the wall.

‘ **Drama club musical! Sign up here** ’

They stood transfixed for a moment. She met his eye, then nodded her head to the poster.

“Are you auditioning?”

Sora started rubbing the back of his head again, picking up one foot and knocking his toe on the ground as he looked away.

“Probably not?” At Kairi’s offended glare, he wriggled uncomfortably. “It's just not my thing.”

“Are you _kidding_? I heard you sing. I saw you perform for a crowd of total strangers and come away with people begging for your autograph.”

“What? Are you auditioning?” He fired back, but Kairi just kept staring at the poster, tapping one finger to her chin.

“Maybe.” She was almost talking to herself, but Sora stopped fidgeting as she said it.

“Really? You would audition?”

“Who’s auditioning?” A voice sounded from somewhere behind her.

“RIKU!” Sora was gone from her vision, nearly a blur, he moved so fast. As he darted away. Kairi turned to see what he was so excited about.

She almost dropped her school bag.

The boy standing in front of her was tall, made even taller by the thick soles of his black boots. Kairi almost had to tilt her head back to admire his aquamarine eyes lined with perfect eyeliner. Silvery hair tied up in a high ponytail, with just a few strands falling and artistically framing his face. He had on a simple light purple tee shirt, but it looked so fashionable paired with his tailored black coat and flowing blue skirt.

“I- uh.” Kairi couldn't form words. Thankfully, Sora was more than able to.

“Riku!” He instantly attached himself to the taller boy's arm, flattening his chin against Riku’s shoulder and staring up at him with wide eyes and an excited smile. “Hi.”

“Hello to you too, you little barnacle.” Riku smiled back, smaller, but no less sincere. Then, he looked up and saw Kairi, and the smile melted. He shook off Sora, taking a step closer to her.

Sora seemed oblivious to the awkwardness. He stood off to the side, glancing in between the two of them like they were destined to click. Eventually, Kairi decided to be the polite one, and gave a little ground.

“Hi. I'm Kairi.”

Riku’s eyes widened into quarters.

“ _The_ Kairi? Ski lodge Kairi?”

“Yeah! Isn’t it awesome?” Sora practically exploded in between them. Kairi was still reeling. _Sora’s talked about me?_ It wasn't like she thought the night of the party was a secret. But she hadn't told her dad, and she just hadn't thought that the evening was anyone’s but theirs.

 _Then again_ , she thought, watching as Sora waved his arms while he explained the story to Riku. _Riku’s his best friend._ She knew that at least, from Sora’s texts. He sent paragraphs and paragraphs about all the misadventures he’d gotten up to with his childhood playmate. Stories about summer days on the beach and lazy afternoons at cafes and nights of giggled sleepovers. References to him, sometimes inside jokes that probably made sense between the two of them but were nonsense to Kairi. Riku was his best friend. That, and the way Sora had practically tackled the guy when he showed up was not exactly something you’d to a stranger.

But the way Sora had told it, she’d been picturing the infamous Riku to be a shy, grade A dork.

The guy standing in front of her looked like the most deadly combination of razor sharp, glittery, and a career in musical theater.

“Riku, I swear the next time you leave me behind, I will permanently shorten your legs,” a voice approaching grumbled from behind her.

“Hey Ryu!” Sora greeted the newcomer to the scene, a small guy with the same silvery hair as Riku. Most of him was the same as Riku actually, like Riku if he was two years younger and dipped in a vat of Hot Topic.

“‘Sup, Sora,” the boy responded. He sauntered over to Riku, punching him in the shoulder. “Hey, Tall legs McLoser.” Riku huffed and shoved the younger boy’s beanie down, covering his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. Do you have a pen?” he asked.

Ryu readjusted his beanie.

“You think I’d start the first day of new term without bringing a pen?”

“Yes.”

“I have a pen!” Sora spoke up, rummaging in the pockets of his cargo pants. Ryu waved him off. He pulled a ballpoint out of his bag and wandered away. Kairi took the lull in conversation as an opening to ask the question she was beginning to suspect the answer to.

“So Riku, where are you headed?” _Please no, not-_

“Stagecraft,” he replied coolly. Sora, of course, jumped with excitement.

“Yeah, we are too!”

“Hey, Riku,” Ryu suddenly interrupted. He was standing in front of the musical sign up, twiddling the pen in his hands. “Do you think it needs me to write our last names down twice?”

“Yeah, full names for us both.” Riku called back. Ryu shrugged, then set himself back to writing on the sheet, where now Kairi could make out two names in messy scribble. ‘Riku & Ryu’. Sora, putting the pieces together, whipped around to look at Riku.

“Wait, you two are auditioning? I thought you’d be running tech.” He asked. Riku shrugged.

“I mean, that's the backup plan. If we don't get cast, I’ll still do what I can. But this is Ryu’s first chance to audition for high school theater.”

Ryu mumbled something that none of them quite caught.

Sora laughed.

“‘If we don't get cast’? Come on Riku, I've heard you both sing. And you've been working shows since you were what? Eight?” He tugged on Riku’s arm teasingly, who just blushed faintly.

“Sora, I'm pretty sure ‘Our Town’ doesn't count.”

“What I'm saying is,” Sora waved his concern aside. “You two are a total shoe in!”

“I don't know. When I walked up, I heard you talking about _someone_ auditioning,” Riku smirked, tossing his ponytail over his shoulder. His confidence back, he slyly glanced at Sora. “So what do you say, Sora? Finally going to swear your loyalty to the theater cult?”

“Actually,” Kairi straightened her spine, crossing her arms as she corrected him. “I was the one talking about signing up.”

She stared down Riku.

Riku’s jaw dropped just the barest millimeter. He looked shocked for almost a full second, then recollected himself.

“Oh? That’s,” He searched for the word. “Nice.”

“Yeah.” Kairi tossed her head. (How did he get his hair to do that pretty flip thing? Maybe hers was too short.) “I was just doing that now.” There was a pen in the pocket of her bag, it was in her hand, she turned and taken two purposeful steps to the poster, she was really doing this, she was going to-

“You can't put your name there,” Riku interrupted.

“Of course I can!” Kairi rounded on him, waving the pen angrily.

“No, I mean it's against the rules.” Riku smirked, pointing at the sheet and to the column of lines, right underneath his and Ryu’s names, where she’d been about to sign. “Main roles need to audition in pairs of two. If you're a singular act, you need to put yourself under ‘extras’.” He lowered his hand to the considerably smaller list, cramped in the corner. Kairi ground her teeth.

“What idiot made that stupid rule?”

“Ms. Aqua. The director.” He leaned back, arms crossed. “She’s trying to streamline the process, get chemistry tryouts out of the way so she doesn’t need to hold callbacks.”

“Um, I could sing with her!” Sora was practically vibrating on a molecular frequency. He jumped in between the two of them, hands twisting and fiddling on the buttons of his jacket. Seeing the action, Riku immediately softened.

“Sora, have you ever acted in your life?” he asked gently.

“But you just said-” Sora protested. Reminding Riku of his eagerness to have Sora auditioning was cut off however, by the sharp chime of the bell.

“Guys, we’re going to be late!” Kairi gestured frantically to the two of them, signup forgotten. She turned to address the fourth member of their party. “Ryu-”

But they all three realized that the freshman was nowhere to be seen, having slipped away at some point during the argument.

“Oh, that just figures,” Riku grumbled as he took off down the hall, heels clicking on the linoleum. Sora and Kairi raced after. The stage entrance was at the very end of the arts wing, which Kairi angrily remembered from her morning tour. It was a long distance to sprint, just enough to get them all out of breath as they crashed through the door, drawing everyone’s attention.

A tall elegant woman with brilliant blue hair paused whatever she’d been saying. Slowly, she lowered her jeweled glasses, peering at the three of them.

“Sora, Riku,” She glanced at Kairi. “and the new student, I presume?”

“Kairi, ma’am,” She felt the most ridiculous urge to bow. She settled for a sheepish wave.

“Hm. So,” The teacher settled her glasses back on her face. “Any particular reason not one, but three of my pupils are late to the first class of the semester?” Sora squirmed.

“Kairi got a little lost, Ms. Aqua. We had to track her down and guide her back.”

“Both of you?” Ms. Aqua was very good at looking like she didn’t believe a word you were saying. Riku ducked his head, and Kairi could practically hear the mental calculations whir.

“Yes,” he mumbled.

“Fine. But I trust you won't get lost next time. Understood?” Ms. Aqua finally turned her gaze away, dramatically waving an arm to where the rest of the class, including a smug Ryu, was seated on the floor.

“Yes ma’am,” they chorused in unison.

“Fine, take a seat. Let's get started shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we finally get the third destiny kid! Yes, Riku is wearing a skirt in the fic, and always will be, unless I specify otherwise. Like his predecessor, every outfit he wears is bleedingly sparkly 2000s. Feel free imagine that however you want, but the skirt is constant.  
> Housekeeping! I have gone back and edited the first chapter minimally, just fixing some grammar and punctuation I missed the first time, nothing major, don't worry. This is my publishing plan for the rest of this fic, just fixing one or two errors in the last chapter the same day the next one goes up. Also, you may have noticed I tagged 'Trans female character'. As you hopefully figured out, that's for Xion. She is a trans girl in this fic, and while it won't be majorly addressed or factor into the story, I wanted to tag her anyway, if only for the sake of clarity. And, as you also may have noticed, this fic finally has a chapter count! Currently, it's slated to be 17 chapters. That's almost a slowburn! (debating adding that tag) It is subject to change, if I happen to think up a scene I really want to add, but with my current plan, I think seventeen will be just perfect. Its a good number. In the most literal sense, it's what you get when you combine seven and thirteen.  
> ...I'll show myself out.  
> See y'all next week!


	3. Chapter 3

“Traitor,” Riku hissed at his brother as Ryu sauntered over, clutching brushes and paint. With an eye roll, he sat down, passing a brush to Riku.

“I'm just saying, if I have to watch drama unfold, I’d rather get credit for it.”

“That’s not-” Riku spluttered.

“Uh huh,” Ryu gave another eyeroll, then set to work painting the plywood moon they’d been assigned. Riku joined in, but kept fuming, glaring at his small, annoying clone.

“I was just trying to keep our show safe!”

“Oh? It's ‘our show’ now?” There was almost a hint of anger in his voice, mixed in with Ryu’s usual cocktail of mockery and sarcasm. He sat back, waggling his paintbrush menacingly. “Please, entertain me. Tell me how this new girl is a villainous musical-destroying monster who will bring about the grisly demise of the theater department.”

“According to Sora, she’s a really good singer.”

“Oh no. Not a talented singer. The utter downfall of musical theater,” Ryu drawled. He glanced at his brother out of the corner of his eye, that all too familiar glow of ‘I'm going to tease my brother!” lighting up his face. “Is that _all_ Sora said about her?”

Riku felt his face heat up. He ducked, apparently busying himself with some minuscule correction to the paint job.

“Shut up.”

“Dude. Just ask him out already,” Ryu complained. Riku felt himself blush harder.

“I knoooow. It's just-” He finally decided to give up the facade of working on the moon. Instead, he buried his face in his hands. “Ugh. I’ve tried. I'll say I have something to say, and then he gets all sincere and looks so serious, like he thinks it's really important, whatever I have to say. And then…”

“And then you get cold feet and bail,” Ryu finished knowingly, nodding like he was some decorated scholar on the subject of Riku’s nonexistent love life.

“He’s just so cute,” he stammered. He sighed, sliding his hands up and running them through his hair. “And my best friend. And what if he says no? I don't even know if he likes guys.”

“I mean, it's a risk,” Ryu shrugged. “But you’re not allowed to be jealous about Kairi if Sora doesn't even know how you feel. Plus, you get mean when you’re pining.”

“I do?” Riku sat up, staring at his brother.

“Yes.”

“I’ve had a crush on Sora for five years.” He tilted his head to the side. Ryu raised an eyebrow.

“Mhm,” he hummed. This time, it was his turn to lean down and avoid the conversation. Finally catching the insult, Riku flicked his brush, spattering paint at Ryu.

“Hey!”

“Boys!” Aqua suddenly materialised, as if she had some third sense for tomfoolery. “The paint is for set dressing, not childish warfare!”

“Sorry Ms. Aqua!” Riku chirped. Ryu shot him a dirty look, scrubbing furiously at his (admittedly already paint splattered) hoodie. Riku waited until Aqua turned away, then stuck his tongue out. Then, he decided to ignore his brother and go back to what he’d been doing throughout most of class: staring at Kairi.

“I wonder if she’s just looking for the extra-curricular credit,” he muttered, watching the redhead chat amiably with Sora as she sanded boards for the staircase they were building. Ryu, probably just to get back at him, shook his head.

“I doubt it. She made it to nationals in debate team.”

“How do you know that?” He whirled to look at his brother instead, in somewhat disbelief.

“I talked to her?” Ryu raised an eyebrow.

“When?”

“When I was getting brushes for us. We were both waiting for the crowd to die down, so we started talking. I told her about teching, she talked about her team back home. We swapped favorite bands. You know, _a normal conversation_?”

“Hm. Can't relate.”

“You know, you might like her. She’s nice,” Ryu persisted. Riku scoffed.

“How are _you_ the one telling _me_ to be less broody and make more friends?”

“Fair point.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“Do you know what Aqua’s even doing this semester?” Ryu suddenly asked. “She hasn't announced the show or anything, all we’ve got to go on is the music she posted.”

“I think it's something indie?” Riku closed his eyes, trying to remember the logo that had been printed on the poster this morning. He hadn't really noticed, distracted by other things at the time. “I mean, I didn't recognize it.”

“Ah, so you two have noticed the mystery,” Aqua commented, stepping up behind them. Ryu jumped, almost spilling a can of paint down his front.

“Fuck, do you have a degree in teleportation or something?”

“Language,” Aqua admonished.

“I think that one was perfectly justified,” Ryu huffed. “Teachers stepping out of the shadows as soon as you mention them is one of the top ten mild nightmares of every highschool student.”

“Really? I'll keep that in mind,” she grinned, in a way that left the boys wondering if she would use this new knowledge for good or evil. “Now, you were discussing the new show?”

“Hm, in what some might call a private conversation, yes,” Ryu sassed. Riku glared at him.

“I think what Ryu’s _trying_ to say, is that so far we’ve seen,” he cast his eyes around the theater, taking in the assortment of props and set pieces the class was making. “A piano, some stairs, and a big heart painted like a moon. It's just a little puzzling.”

“Well that's fair,” Aqua nodded. “You haven't recognized any set pieces because this isn't a show you've heard of. It’s an original screenplay, written, composed, and orchestrated by our newest pianist. I was talking with her over the break, and she mentioned this show she had written. I looked it over, and I just fell in love with it.”

Riku gave a low whistle.

“Must be some pianist.”

“Yes, she’s very talented,” Aqua smiled.

“So, what's it about?” Riku asked. Immediately, Aqua smiled wider. She took a deep breath, planted her feet, and began gesturing dramatically as she spoke.

“It's a small one act musical, and the cast itself isn't too big. It's about a musician who has just moved away from home and is learning to live on their own, when they suddenly realize that their childhood friend is the love of their life. The musician is no one special, but their friend has gone on to be a big name celebrity, and is currently being courted by a rich and famous suitor. The musician tries to get closer to them, but needs to overcome their own feelings and come to terms with their own heart, before proclaiming their love in the final song.”

“Wait, wait, I think I’ve actually heard of this one,” Ryu stuck out a hand for her to stop, pressing the other one to his forehead and thinking hard. “Isn't it called ‘The Plot of Almost Every Musical Ever?’”

Riku kicked his brother.

Aqua sighed.

“Well, I suppose so. It's more about the atmosphere. The _ambiance_.” She waved one hand in a dramatic flourish, which a passing underclassman had to duck to avoid getting hit by. “And, if I get the right cast, it's the kind of script where the actors make up and fill in as they flesh out their interpretation of the characters.”

“How big’s the cast?” Riku asked.

“Four people.”

“Sounds artsy,” Ryu commented. Riku, lost in thought, didn’t even punish the sarcasm.

“You’ll need one heck of a lighting crew. Filling the stage without an ensemble, you’ll need blue tones to fill out the space, dark light the edges so it seems smaller…” He started tracking imaginary pattern in the air, trying to visualize the stage, picturing the light set up they would need to pull this off. Belatedly, he noticed Ryu and Aqua staring at him. “What?”

“Yes, I like that,” Aqua nodded. She pulled a small notebook from a nearby table, and began sketching the rough layout of the stage, then pointed with the tip of her pen. “We could move in the stage curtains a few feet. What about positions here, here, and here?”

“Miss?” A familiar voice spoke up from behind him. Riku whirled, and there she was.

Brilliant as a flame, biting one lip to smother a giggle as Riku nearly fell out of his chair.

Kairi cleared her throat.

“Hold that thought,” Aqua told Riku, passing him the notebook as she turned to address her newest student. “Yes, Kairi?”

“I was working on the staircase with Sora, and we’re all ready to start securing the boards. But I don't know how to use the nailgun. Sora says it's a two person job, so could I get a quick crash course or an easy how-to-”

“Right. Of course. Yes, I can teach you. But for right now,” She turned back to the boys. “Riku, could you go help Sora? Kairi, you can paint with Ryu here.”

“I'll go,” Ryu volunteered. Very pointedly, he stared at Riku as he handed his brush to Kairi. “These two can work together.” And with that, he ran off. Aqua looked curiously at the two of them, clearly wondering what that was all about. Then, apparently deciding that it wasn't her business, shook her head, and handed the lighting notes to Riku.

“Can I get a basic plan sheet for that setup we were discussing? Even if it's just rough thoughts, I liked where you were headed. You can turn it in at the end of class.”

“Sure.” He took the pen too, and forced his thoughts away from the girl seated across from him. “Do we still have those blue lighting gels from last year?”

Aqua nodded in confirmation, before turning, tossing her signature blue scarf over her shoulder as she marched off to scold some unruly freshmen who were fencing with their brooms.

And then Riku was left all alone with the girl who had somehow barged into his and his best friends’ life.

The silence wasn't too bad though. Kairi seemed perfectly content with her brush, and the soft butter yellow of the paint. She set to work shading in craters, tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. Idly, Riku noticed that some of the paint was already caking around the edges of her nails as she worked. It wasn't a bad look on her.

 _Lighting plan_ , some annoyed voice in his head snapped. Riku jumped. Right. He had a job to do. He began sketching some ideas, doodling notes in the margins for lightboard arrays, color correcting, anything that would need to be moved in order to work properly. The image that had immediately popped into his head when Aqua mentioned the smaller cast was the stage awash in blue, but as he drew, it became clear that positive space would need some kind of break up. Black lines, crisscrossing all over the stage, an almost stained glass effect. Once the pattern fell into place, it was easy, freehanding the bold seams that made up the lighting plan resemble the shadow of a great cathedral.

“That’s amazing.” Kairi’s voice broke his focus as she glanced at his notebook. Riku looked up, his pen pausing on the paper. _Talk to her_ , his brother's voice, which had annoyingly taken up residence in his head, chided. He sighed.

“Not really.”

She frowned at that, rubbing a thumb across her nose, which left a brilliant streak of yellow. She didn't seem to notice.

“You really are Sora’s friend, huh?”

That certainly wasn't the response he’d been expecting.

“Um, last I checked.” The new paint on her face brought his attention to the fact that this girl had a nearly preposterous number of freckles dotting her whole face. They were faint, much smaller than the dark moles that Sora boasted on his shoulders, but still visible.

“-both are totally underselling-”

“Huh?” Unconsciously, he’d started trying to count them, but lost what number he was at as soon as she moved her head.

“I said, you two both totally undersell yourselves.” Kairi took a second to exhale sharply, blowing her loose bangs out of her face. She looked up, and across the makeshift table of the prop moon, to Riku. She cocked her head to the side. “When we were at the lodge, he almost wouldn't believe me when I said he had talent.”

“Sora said he wasn’t talented?” That was a code red. He would have some strong words for him. Then, the concern in Kairi’s voice registered, and that was even more unprecedented. “Wait, I thought you hated me?”

“What?” Kairi actually jumped when he said that, like the very idea hadn’t even occurred to her. Riku just shrugged.

“Don't feel bad, I assume most people I meet don't like me.”

“First off.” She put one hand on her hip, using the other to scoldingly waggle her paintbrush at him. “Stop that.” Kairi went quiet after that, thinking for a moment, as she turned the words over in her head. Finally, after a moment of silence, she spoke. “I was surprised, I’ll admit. The way Sora talked about you, I imagined this quiet, soft spoken guy. So when I met you this morning, it was a bit of a shock. But now,” She nodded at the notebook in his lap, to the careful, precise notes. “I think I know what he meant.”

Riku blushed. Just a little. He bowed his head so Kairi wouldn't see, occupying himself with picking at the paper scraps caught in the notebook’s spiral.

“You weren't what I expected either,” he admitted. “Sora texted me first thing in the morning, all capsing about this amazing girl he'd met, and how she was so confident and nice and I just worried-”

“Hey.” Kairi put down her brush, setting a gentle hand on across his wrist, which didn't help the heat flushing across Riku’s face. Her fingertips, still stained, left tiny flecks of yellow paint. “ There's no need to worry. I couldn't make Sora stop caring about you if I tried.” She pulled away, and sat back in her seat. Her voice changed to a high pitch, and she scrunched up her face as she spoke in a somewhat exaggerated, but shockingly accurate, impression of Sora. “ ‘Riku’s so sweet, yesterday he offered to carry my bag for me, even though it weighed pretty much nothing, and then when I said no thanks he tried to physically pick me up and carry me.’ ”

“Oh yeah?” Riku fired back. “You should hear the way he talks about you. ‘Kairi texted me just to say she bought a cute sweater with a duck on it because she knows I like ducks. Riku, how do I subtly tell someone I would die for them?’”

They sat for a second, processing what the other had said.

Then, they both burst out laughing.

“Oh my gosh.” Kairi wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “He’s adorable.”

“Who’s adorable?” A familiar voice spoke up from behind Riku. He nearly jumped out of his seat.

Sora was behind him, slinging a casual arm over his shoulder. Kairi, however, just smiled.

“Hm. Just a certain personified ray of sunshine currently masquerading as a lacrosse team captain-”

“Kai _ri _-” Riku yelped, but she continued.__

“Spiky hair, currently goes by the name of Sora, have you heard of him?”

Sora broke into a grin. He reached over, booping Kairi on the nose.

“You two,” He laughed. “Hey do you know where Ms. Aqua went? Ryu and I finished with the staircase, so I need to ask her what else needs work.”

“Grab a brush. I could use a second set of hands.” Kairi pulled up a chair, which Sora happily plopped into. 

“Hey Kairi, did you know that you have paint on your nose?”

“I do?” Her hand flew to her face. “Where?”

Sora mimed the streak, rubbing his own thumb across his nose. Unfortunately, he’d already grabbed his paintbrush, and the smear of wet paint on its handle. Kairi started laughing. Sora, now his own matching sunshine-colored warpaint, happily joined in. Still giggling, Kairi went to work, and Sora fell in step with her immediately, the two of them working side by side. Sora kept up a constant stream of chatter, the quiet buzz that Riku had known his whole life.

Even when they were kids, Sora was always talking. Teachers had scrawled things like ‘Extremely enthusiastic’ and ‘Classroom nuisance’ in the margins of his report cards. Sora was always speaking, and Riku had always been willing to listen, to plop himself down beside Sora, rest his head against his shoulder and listen to the words echo through him. He almost always got lost immediately. He could never keep up with Sora, once he started stringing his words along like this. But it was a good lost. Like summer days, spent wandering the beach and turning over rocks, the dull thud of the surf almost interchangeable with the steady thrum of his best friend talking about whatever popped into his head. Riku had known that backing track since he was a kid, and it was, in his humble opinion, the best sound in the world.

He snuck a glance at Kairi.

Her brush was still working smooth circles across the wood, and her shoulders were set in the determined hunch that told him she was intensely focused on the task at hand.

But her eyes were locked on Sora.

“Yeah!” Sora continued, oblivious to the quiet observations Riku was making. “I hope that everyone's been staying in shape over break, because Terra wants us to make state this season, and I know we can do it. If Ven stays on his defense, and Van doesn't break any bones, we've got a great chance. I know Roxas is ready to single handedly fight the entire league in single combat, which, even if it isn't especially helpful, you've got to admire his drive…”

Kairi finally managed to pull her gaze off Sora, and across the table, her eyes met Riku’s. She gave a grin, those bright freckles standing out as she smiled. And then she just turned back to Sora, listening as intently to his ramblings as one might a piece of classical music. Almost to himself, Riku nodded approvingly.

She got it.

Riku smiled faintly, and wondered, for the first time in his entire life, if it was possible to have two best friends. Then, he went back to his lighting sheet.

The moment Aqua had described the show, a dramatic romance with high emotional stakes, Riku knew he would have to come up with something spectacular for the love interest. It happened in almost every theatrical romance, a lighting cue for when the love interest first enters a scene, a signal to the audience, “Hey. The character's whole world has just changed.” Riku had left a whole space in his notes for that, the _coup de foudre_.

Now, he penciled it in.

_A spattering of small white lights projected across the whole stage. Tiny, speckles. Like feathers floating on the breeze._

Like freckles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a confession to make.  
> This fic will not be perfectly following the plot of the early 2000s movie High School Musical. (Gasp, I know.) Does it ever bug anyone else that we watch these students work for two hours to get cast in a musical and then we don’t even get to see that show? Or the fact that the audition process in that film is absolutely nothing like a real audition? Just me? So yes, I’ll be swapping around a few wires, and cramming in my own theater kid flair, to make this a more true to life (and hopefully, more fun) story.  
> As for notes on the rest of today's chapter, what can I say? I can't resist some good Sorikai fluff. And, if you followed me this far, I’d like to assume you can’t either.  
> See y’all next week!


	4. Chapter 4

“So then she almost falls off the stage, so I go to catch her, and she _spins_ me, just like that, like it's some kind of- I don't know, a fancy scene thing from a movie. And I'm pretty much fainting, because _holy_ -” Sora waved his arms around, gesticulating wildly as he talked. Across the aisle, Vanitas scoffed, barely even looking up from polishing his helmet.

“When are we going to tell him he's already told us this story three times?”

Ventus pushed his brother off the bench.

The team was currently hanging out in the locker room, listening to Sora chatter as they put away equipment and grabbed water bottles after their newest practice. Terra had been particularly driven this session, determined to whip everyone back into shape after the lazy winter break. From his own perch on the bench, Roxas looked up from restringing his pocket.

“You guys don't even share a class with him. This morning, he was staring at her the whole time. I had to grab a second syllabus for him because he didn't even take one when they were passed out.”

“I didn't?” Sora frowned. He remembered that paper, Ms. Aerith had read the whole thing to the class and gone over everything. _Surely_ he’d gotten a copy. He'd definitely seen the paper on his desk. Roxas interrupted his thoughts, rolling his eyes and setting his work aside, going digging through his backpack at his feet. With an exaggerated flick, he pulled out a sheet of paper.  


“Ventus. Catch.” And he crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it. Ventus, with a sympathetic smile to Sora, caught it easily, straightening up and almost leisurely holding up his stick, like a kid with a butterfly net.

“Sora,” He held up a placating hand. “I want it to be known that I am your friend.”

Then he said “Vanitas, catch.” Of which Vanitas was more than happy to.

The ensuing game of keep-away was so skilled and well coordinated that if Terra were present he probably would have started weeping from the perfection of the passes on display. Van threw to Roxas, Roxas passed the Ven, who immediately sent it back, then it was back to Vanitas, Sora almost tripping over himself as he scrambled back and forth trying to intercept. It didn’t help that he kept running into the benches, while the other three were free to dart around the edges of the room unimpeded.

Finally, after Sora was well and truly winded, he managed to snatch it up, partly because Vanitas was cackling too much to throw properly. With faux-offense, he marched over to his locker and shoved the offending syllabus in a random pocket.

“And then during lunch,” Roxas continued, ignoring Sora’s grumbling. “He was practically sitting in Riku’s lap. You should have seen the look on the guys face.”

“Roxas, you know it wasn't like that,” Sora frowned. He closed his locker, then leaned back against it, crossing his arms as he stared quizzically at Roxas. “Riku and I have been doing that since we were kids.”

“Face it Sora. You're just stealing all the dating options so none of us can get one.” Vanitas piped up from his seat on the floor, where he’d settled after collapsing in evil laughter. He’d rearranged himself against the wall, legs kicked up against the lockers and back on the tile. He glanced up at Ventus. “Like, neither of us has an SO. Ven, why is that?”

“Because I'm babey,” Ventus responded primly.

“It could be a legitimate strategy.” Roxas pointed out. “If he, as team captain, takes one for the team and leaves no dating options for the rest of us, we’ll never be distracted by our SOs and our brains will just become one hundred percent lacrosse.”

“Well. If it's for the good of the team,” Sora sighed dramatically, although secretly, he was struggling not to smile. Vanitas huffed.

“Oh shut up, it's just as stupid as Roxas’s two stick strategy.”

“No where in the rules does it say I can’t, blondie,” Roxas fired back, sticking his tongue out. Immediately, Vanitas leapt to his feet, pointing an accusing finger at him.

“FOR THE LAST TIME, I'M NOT BLO-”

“Van,” Ventus butted in, swatting his locker closed. “If we’re late to dinner, I'm saying it was your fault.”

“BUT MY HONOR-”

“I'm taking your keys~” he singsonged. As evidence, he jingled them as he walked out the door. Vanitas’s hand flew to the pocket of his leather jacket. Realising his brother had well and truly pickpocketed him, he threw one final glare at Roxas.

“One day, I will end you.”

“Good luck with that,” Roxas responded, not even looking up as he twisted the dial on his locker. With a huff, Vanitas stomped out the door.

Roxas slammed his locker closed with his hip as he buckled on his helmet, his skateboard slung over one shoulder. “I should probably head out too.”

“Wait,” Sora stopped him, bouncing up from his seat. “I'm allowed to do that, right?” he asked, fingers tapping anxiously on his thigh. Roxas frowned.

“Date as many people as you want? Fuck yeah.”

“No, not that. I just-” Sora forced himself to stop tapping. That lasted for about twenty seconds, then he was fidgeting with the hem of his jacket. “Do our brains really need to be one hundred percent lacrosse? I mean, I love you guys, and I want the team to do well, but, I just…” He trailed off. Roxas was staring at him, his face a perfect mixture of confusion and exasperation.

“Um, no? Sora, I was joking. You're a great captain, but no offense, if you were _just_ a lacrosse captain, you’d be pretty boring.”

“So like, I'm allowed to do other stuff?” Sora asked, which maybe wasn't the best way to put it. But his thoughts were racing around now, and making words mean what they should was pretty low on the priorities list.

Roxas sighed, and did a slow, deliberate, facepalm.

“Sora, _please_ do not ask me if you're _allowed to have other hobbies_.” He clasped his hands together. “Please. All of my faith in my punk anarchy being a bad influence on you would be ruined.”

“Right.” A small smile grew on Sora’s face. He waved Roxas away. “Now go graffiti a government building, or whatever you do with your free time,”

“Now you're getting it.” Roxas laughed. “Later.” And he zoomed off. Faintly, through the walls, Sora could hear a faculty member shout ‘Don't skate in the hallway!’. He closed his eyes, smiling faintly, and took a deep breath.

Okay. He could do this.

As he stood up, walking out of the locker room, his thoughts drifted to the other things Roxas had said.

Was Riku really interested in him? Surely not. He would have said something by now. They were practically joined at the hip. And Kairi…

“Oh, hey Sora!”

Kairi was right there.

“Hey,” He almost had to jump back to avoid running into her. “What are you doing here this late?”

Kairi shrugged.

“Joining debate team. Xion’s the head of the club, she texted me after school saying they had a meet tonight. So I raced back on over to see if they would take one more member.”

“And?” he asked. Kairi grinned, spreading out her arms and striking a pose.

“You're looking at a fully fledged member of the Kingdom High debate team.”

“That’s awesome!” Sora congratulated. She gave a small bow. When she straightened back up, it seemed to click that Sora was also at school after hours.

“What about you?” she asked. Sora flushed.

“Lacrosse practice. But that just got out, so I was headed over to the arts wing because I was thinking, maybe, I could-”

“Would you sign up with me?” Kairi suddenly blurted out. Immediately, her hands flew to her mouth. “Sorry, I interrupted. I just-” She recollected herself, brushing off some imaginary dust. She cleared her throat, and dramatically flourished, extending her hand in offering. “Sora, would you like to sign up for the school musical together?” she asked, gazing up at him.

Sora melted.

“Oh my gosh you're so chivalrous,” he sputtered, flashing back to the ever-famous spin. “I mean, yes but-” He took forced himself to take a deep breath. “Would you really want to sing with me?”

“Of course I would. Even if you didn't have the voice of an angel.”

“I wouldn't say th-” He started, but Kairi cut him off.

“Sora, I know I just did the very kind and adorable thing that cemented our friendship,” She took his hands and clasped them between hers, bringing them to her face as she stared directly at him. “But if you say a single bad thing about your singing voice, I will absolutely throw down.”

“I-” He opened his mouth to say more, but Kairi’s glare made the words die on his tongue. He gulped. “Am I allowed to say that I have absolutely no idea how an audition works?”

“Thank god, I thought I was the only one.” Kairi laughed, dropping the tough girl glare. She didn’t drop his hands though. “Come on.” And she pulled him down the hall.

Sora, still buzzing with the rush that came from Kairi holding his hand, and raced along after her. Together, they turned corners and raced down hallways, sliding to a stop directly in front of the poster with sparkly letters, still proudly announcing ‘ **Drama club musical! Sign up here!** ’. They glanced at each other.

“Do you want to write it?” They both asked at the same time, then laughed. Kairi pulled a pen from her pocket, and shoved it in Sora’s hands.

“You sign us up. I'll work on that scan code she printed. It probably has the instructions.”

“Okay.” He popped the cap off, stepping to the side as Kairi brought up her phone to scan the large black and white square in the corner of the poster. As she moved back, reading, Sora took her place. With another deep breath, he brought pen to paper.

And wrote their names, side by side.

The blood pounding in his ears was so loud he almost missed what Kairi was saying.

“Huh?”

“So, it looks like we have to just perform a short scene and sing a piece of a song,” Kairi explained again, the words actually sticking in his brain this time. He nodded.

“Sounds great.” Then, he actually _processed_ those words. “Wait, sing what?”

She tapped at the screen, and then her phone started playing a sweet, melodic piece. The piano came in softly, echoing around the empty hallway. Then, a voice, only barely recognizable as Ms. Aqua, began to sing.

It was short, barely a minute, but those short sixty seconds were all it needed, all the time required for the notes to slide into your mind, all they needed to dig into your heart and strum a little melody on the strings. It was beautiful, a tiny snippet of a larger tale about finding the strength to endure the scary things in life. Sora and Kairi stood, transfixed, until the music ended.

Kairi turned off her phone with a click.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders, and shaking off the brief trance of the music. “When can we practice?”

“Um, when is your dad picking you up?” Sora asked.

“Not for another hour.” She shrugged. “He has work.”

“Same with my mom. Come on, I know just the place.”

“What, right now?” She laughed, following after. Sora turned back to look at her, to the excitement in her eyes, to the auburn bangs falling in her face as she ran, to the shape of her mouth as she laughed. He beamed.

“No better time.” Sora pushed open the door he had come out of not five minutes before, and led Kairi through the locker room. He’d meant to cut straight through to the gymnasium, but Kairi stopped in the center of the room. She turned around, finger tapping on her lip, thoughtfully taking it all in.

“Jock hq?”

“Yup.” He tried not to feel self conscious, and resisted his urge to kick Ventus’s dirty socks behind the trash can. “This is where all our equipment lives.”

Kairi finished her survey, and zeroed in on his gear, which he’d somehow forgotten to put away before rushing out to sign up for the musical. She picked up his stick, examining the designs carefully drawn all over it.

“Is this yours?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, taking a step closer to watch as she turned the whole thing over in wonder.

“Who painted this?”

“I did.” He answered. “Well, my moms helped. And the rest of the team. Whenever we get new equipment, everyone goes over to that person's house and we all get together and decorate. It's fun. Roxas and Van always cover theirs with the made up sigils and motifs they doodle in their margins. Ven just likes painting swirls, and then we always do a key…”

“Is that what this is?” She traced her fingers over the design that dominated the shaft, a gold and silver key, the bow starting just above the grip tape, and the teeth ending just below the pocket.

“Yeah, we’re the Kingdom High Keys, so everyones’ has one,” His mind immediately flashed to some of the designs painted on his teammates' equipment. “Although some people take the suggestion of ‘key’ pretty loosely.”

“And what about these other symbols?” She flipped it over, studying the clump of flowers, the squiggles of black, the finally, the silver crown, stenciled in right at the top.

“It's kind of dumb,” He said sheepishly, ducking his head. Kairi frowned.

“No, it isn't.”

Sora smiled, and began pointing at them, one at a time, as he explained.

“That one is a cluster of bluebells, which is my mom's favorite flower. Then that one is the pattern of my tina’s tattoo, the one over her shoulder. And then that one,” His hands flew to the silver chain around his neck, and the comforting weight of its charm. “It's my necklace, the one Riku bought me for my birthday when we were eleven.” Kairi smiled.

“It's beautiful. I love it.” She shook herself, and stood, handing it back to him. “We should get to practicing though.”

“Wait just a second.” He opened his locker and rummaged around. Below the old laundry he should probably take home, below his extra pair of shoes, below the squished loaf of banana bread (after practice snacks), he found and excavated a dented tin of paint pens.

“Hmm,” He looked at Kairi. What did he think of when it came to her? Singing together in a crowded room, watching fireworks under a full sky, stars reflected in brilliant blue eyes-

Sora smiled and selected a yellow pen. He set to work doodling, sprinkling in little yellow stars everywhere there was enough blank space to hold them. Kairi, peering over his shoulder, smiled as he drew in star after star.

“Okay,” he said, once he was well and truly satisfied that the design could be mistaken for a small planetarium. He capped the marker and shoved it back in his locker back with the rest of his gear he’d forgotten to put away. “We can start practicing now.”

As he pushed open the door, leading Kairi into the huge gym, she once again linked their fingers together. But this time, she leaned in, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” she breathed.

Sora couldn't think of a single thing to say that would properly articulate the emotions swirling in his chest, the small chorus that sang when he heard her and those two, simple, words that seemed to hold the meaning and mystery of a whole ocean, the dozens of memories that she could be thanking him for, and the same wonder he saw reflected in her eyes now, identical to the expression she’d worn when taking in the stars, like Sora was just as beautiful as that night sky.

He just squeezed her hand, and hoped that was enough.

-

In the Kingdom High gymnasium, there was a small door, tucked off to the side and behind some bleachers, that Sora had quite forgotten about. Behind it, there was a cramped office, made even more cramped by a large collection of trophies and photographs celebrating wins from years past. It was, however, just big enough for Coach Terra, a desk, and space for a friend to stop by and chat after a particularly hectic day. Which is what it was currently being used for.

Terra and Aqua were sitting across from each other, swapping stories about their respective classes over the usual thermos of tea.

“Look, I like woodshop,” Terra took a long sip of his tea. He always insisted he had styrofoam cups, but Aqua never failed to show up without two teacups in hand, so instead he was stuck trying to fit his fingers around the delicate porcelain handle without snapping it. Aqua, who held hers with all the grace of a english noblewoman, probably thought it was funny. “But when Cid starts ordering kerosene and tungsten, that's when I have to put my foot down. I swear, last year he almost took my eyebrows off with that pet project of his, and if he-”

“Shh.”

“Huh?”

“Shush.” Aqua had her head tilted to the side, listening intently. Now that he was trying, Terra could hear it too. Music, coming from the gym. Then, voices.

Singing voices. Really good singing voices.

“Is that…” He concentrated, trying to remember that melody sounded so familiar. Aqua had played it for him, when she was excitedly telling him about this new pianist she had found. “Is that one of Namine’s songs?”

Aqua, her ear pressed to the door jam, just nodded.

“Terra,” A slow smile spread over her face. “I have a good feeling about this year's show.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You gotta gitcha gitcha gitcha gitcha head in the game.   
> To anyone hoping for sportsball melodrama, I am sorry. There's only so many Utada Hikaru songs. Plus, I didn't think it would be very in-character for the guys to hate on Sora’s interests. Now, some would argue that without the inner turmoil of the main character trying to decide between sports and musical theatre, High School Musical isn't really High School Musical. And to that I say: I dunno. It brings about the question; how many changes can you make to a plot before it's no longer an au? A sort of a ship of Theseus situation. Without any mention of basketball, callbacks, or villainous Evanses, can I still in good faith keep the Highschool Musical fusion tag? I don't know. This story has really taken on a life of its own, but I would feel incredibly disingenuous to claim the plot is 100% mine. I’ll leave it in there for now, but if y’all think I should do otherwise, please let me know in the comments!   
> I’ll see y’all next week, where we’ll finally be returning to the roots of this fic for a musical number.


	5. Chapter 5

“Sora, you’re shaking the whole wall.”

“I… am?” Sora opened one eye, like he hadn't even noticed that his leg was bouncing at close to light speeds. He looked up across the hallway to where the girls were seated opposite him on the tile, studying. Well, Xion was studying. Kairi felt as nervous as Sora looked, and was just fiddling with her hair as she stared at the looming stage door.

“Mhm.” Xion barely looked up as she turned the page.“You’re bouncing your leg, which is shaking the vending machine and rattling against the lockers.” 

“Oh. Sorry.” Sora scooched away from the machine, situating himself against the wall instead. “Better?”

“Much.” Xion finally looked up from her textbook, taking in Sora’s nervous wiggling and Kairi’s blank expression. She tutted. “Honestly, you two are going to be fine.”

“But we could also _not_ be fine,” Kairi pointed out, because the knot that her stomach was trying to tie itself into certainly thought so. She stood up, and began pacing up and down the hallway. Sora just started bouncing faster.

“Well, you two are certainly extra enough to land the job.” Xion went back to highlighting her notes. But, Kairi noticed, she seemed to be keeping a closer eye on them, glancing up every few moments to watch as Kairi completed another lap.

“Surely you’ve been nervous before?” Sora asked. “Like, before a debate meet or a skate competition. Roxas told me you guys won a regional tournament last year. You know how scary it is, right?”

Xion finally closed the book. She sighed, and began to fiddle with her pen, passing it across the backs of her fingers, then around again, lost in thought.

“Not really. In stuff like that, I know I have someone counting on me. The club. My friends.” She shrugged. “I just know I have to do my best.”

“Well, I wish I had some of your confidence right about now.” Kairi finally quit her pacing, and sank back into her seat by Xion’s side. She groaned, and just started fussing with her hair again, adjusting and readjusting her ponytail. Xion smiled.

“Hey, I'm sure you two will do great. Even if I’ve never heard you two, from what you’ve said-”

“Wait, you haven't heard them sing either?” Riku, fresh on the scene, slowly lowered his bag to the ground, Ryu not far behind him.

The two were dressed in snappy outfits, dance shoes clicking softly on the tile. Ryu had ditched his beanie for a neat beret, and Riku just looked drop dead gorgeous, wearing a voluminous skirt that fluttered with every movement. Kairi, who was just wearing her favorite hoodie and some sweats, suddenly felt terribly underdressed. She stole a look at Sora, and felt validated by the fact that he was also having a hard time not staring at Riku’s hips.

“I know right? I mean, I'm never here when they practice anyways, but Kairi wouldn't even record it for me.” Xion pouted, and gave Kairi a playful shove. Riku just looked dumbstruck, like a test he thought he’d aced was just handed back to him marked in red pen.

Ryu snapped open a compact, making some quick correction to his makeup. “So Xion, are you auditioning too?”

“No, I just came here to do some homework and keep these two company while they waited.” She tapped the textbook in her lap.

“Cool. Have you two warmed up yet?”

“Suppose that we knew what that was and _absolutely_ did that,” Kairi twirled a lock of hair around her finger and glanced up at Riku. “What exactly would that have entailed?”

“Stretching, vocal warmups, et cetera.” Riku counted them off on his fingers, somehow oblivious to the confused looks Sora and Kairi were giving him.

“Um…” Kairi tilted her head to the side. “What?” She knew what stretching was, obviously, but it had never even occurred to her that it was necessary for theatre. It made sense, she supposed. The light dancing she and Sora had been trying was certainly a lot of work, just of a different kind than she might have normally associated exercise with. And she couldn’t even begin to guess what a ‘vocal warmup’ was.

“You can just follow what we do,” Riku said, as Ryu took some sort of stance. Sora glanced at Kairi, and, smiling, they both rose to their feet and took their places.

Mimicking exactly what Ryu and Riku did was more difficult than it looked. Some of them Sora at least recognized from his own warmups, so he had no problem with carefully working out each muscle group, falling into the stretches with practiced ease. Kairi wasn't so lucky. She nearly fell over a couple times, sometimes because she lost her footing, but mostly because Xion kept laughing over how silly they looked and Kairi kept trying to stand on one foot to poke her with her sneaker. By the end, Riku was was alternating between calmly walking them through the poses, and trying to corral the girls’ poke war.

“Kairi, please refrain from attacking your debate captain.” Riku calmly asked as he stretched against the lockers, bending over one leg.

“She started i- WHOAH.” Her childish squabbling trailed off as Kairi stared, jaw agape, at Riku, who was standing pressed to the wall, legs at a complete one eighty. He balanced on one foot, his other raised perfectly perpendicular to the floor. Thankfully, he was wearing leggings under his skirt. Kairi felt herself rapidly turn a most unusual shade of pink. Even Sora, who had probably seen Riku do this many a time, had to stare at the floor so he could remain in control of his speech faculties.

“Show off,” Ryu grumbled. Riku, who’d had his eyes shut as he leaned into the pose, finally realized that everyone, even Xion, was staring.

“Um,” He dropped back to normal, flushing scarlet. “Sorry.” None of the three of them could look the other in the eye.

“So!” Ryu clapped his hands suddenly, breaking the awkward silence. “Diction exercises!”

“Right.” Riku cleared his throat. “Repeat after me.”

If Xion was laughing when they were stretching, she was full on howling as Riku and Ryu started spouting off nonsensical tongue twisters, which Sora and Kairi did their best to stumble through. She actually fell over with giggles when Ryu made them exhale in a trill that sounded uncannily similar to an exasperated horse.

“And we’re sure they aren't just hazing you guys?” she chuckled. Riku threw her a pointed glare.

“It’s a valid technique.”

“Uh huh,” Xion rolled her eyes. “And I’m the queen of england.”

“No really, it's to help your enun-”

“Hello?” The stage door creaked open, and a head of blonde hair poked out. A girl stared out at the five of them, eyebrows knitting together as she took in their motley crew. “You guys can come in now. Auditions will start shortly.” She ducked back inside.

Riku shouldered his bag, as did Ryu. Together, they walked to follow her in. Ryu turned back to Kairi and Sora.

“Break a leg.” And with that, he disappeared into the theater.

Riku stayed though, loitering in the doorway, almost like he was waiting for them.

“You two,” Xion hauled herself to her feet. She placed a hand on each shoulder, smiling as she looked both of them in the eye. “Just do your best. Do it for each other's sakes.” Then, she gave them a little push. “Good luck.”

Kairi couldn't help but feel Riku’s eyes on him, and when she marched through the door, repeating Xion’s advice like a mantra, she knew Sora wasn’t the only person she would be doing this for.

-

“We’ll be starting soon.” The girl readjusted her glasses, once again looking over the auditionees. “I’m Namine, I’ll be your accompaniment. Which pair will be auditioning first?”

“We can go.” Riku stepped forward, Ryu right beside him. Namine nodded, and directed the boys to a passage between the curtains, dimly lit by the blue glow of the backstage lights. Through the shadows, Kairi caught glimpses of the stage just beyond. Riku murmured a final ‘Good luck’, and then the two of them ducked down the passageway, and Kairi and Sora were left standing in the dark with Namine.

“You're the pianist?” Sora beamed. He stuck out his hand. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Only good things I hope.” Namine was much more hesitant in her smiles than Sora was (though most people were). Nonetheless, she grinned shyly, returning Sora’s handshake.

“Are you kidding? Aqua won't stop gushing about you,” Kairi said.

“Yeah, writing a whole show. I can barely imagine writing a single song,” Sora laughed.

“Thank you.” Now that introductions were out of the way, Namine seemed politely disinterested in their compliments, as she slowly backed away. She pulled a pen from behind her ear, and wandered off, scribbling a note on the inside of her wrist.

Sora didn't really take the hint.

“I'm serious, making a whole show all by yourself?” He bounded along after her. “That’s good enough to impress Ms. Aqua?”

Namine turned harshly, arms coming up and crossing over her chest. She settled into an almost defensive stance, her jaw set determinedly.

“I'll have you know that I don't have any say in the casting. Aqua may ask for my input if she wants, but the final decisions are ultimately left up to the director.”

Sora’s smile melted.

“Oh! No, I wasn't trying to-” He waved around his hands, movements aflutter as he tried to apologize. Kairi gently laid a hand on his shoulder. She did her best to smile at Namine, who still looked wary.

“I apologize for the human golden retriever,” she tried to explain. Even she had to admit, when she’d first met him, Sora open kindness had been… jarring. “I swear, he does this with everyone.” She gave his shoulder a faint squeeze. “Come on Sora, she probably needs to get ready.”

“No!” Understanding finally dawned in Namine’s eyes. She thrust out a hand to stop them. “I mean, I'm sorry I assumed the worst. But if you really want to talk about the show…” A smile, much stronger this time, spread over her face and she lit up, shaking off her guarded posture as she leaned in.

“We haven't actually read it yet,” Kairi confessed. “But, according to Aqua, it's amazing. And the one song snippet we got to listen to? We both were just stunned.” She glanced at Sora, who nodded enthusiastically. “It's been a lot of fun to practice.” Namine grinned.

“Yeah? Do you like the characters? I was worried they turned out a little too cliche but-”

“I think they're just the right amount of cliche. Like, we only got a snippet of a scene, but I feel like I already know them, but not too much, you know? There's room to grow, and I want to see where it goes.” Confidence back, Sora was bouncing again, not his nervous shaking from earlier, more like the happy rocking back and forth that Kairi was quickly learning meant he was excited.

“That's what I was going for!” She jotted another quick note on her skin, then looking back up at the two of them. “Aqua said it was good, but you know, she's my friend, she kind of has to say she likes my work.”

“How did you two meet anyway?" Kairi asked. "No offense but I imagined you… Older.” Namine didn't look any older than a college freshman, her white bookbag and hurried notetaking giving off a distinctly ‘student’ vibe. Namine shrugged.

“Oh, Aqua’s not much older than me. We met at an art show a while back.”

“Wait, what do you mean she’s not much older than you? She talks like an overly dramatic english professor!”

“Yeah, that's just part of her charm.”

“Nam,” a very familiar voice called out, and a door that neither Kairi or Sora had noticed opened up, the rectangle of light illuminating the dark backstage. Sora had to throw up a hand to cover his eyes.

“Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.” Namine joked, turning to speak to Ms. Aqua, who stood, sillhoutted, in the doorway. “Yeah?”

“We’re ready to begin.”

“On it.” She nodded. “Come on.” Waving them to follow, she walked out of the side door, into the theater.

Row after row of maroon seats spread out before them. The ceiling dripped with spotlights and bulbs and metal cross bracing. To their right, the whole stage opened up like a cavern, floorboards polished and sleek, the only thing on it a white piano. At the front of the audience, Ms. Aqua had a table set up, where she was seated, notes laid out before her. She gave them a polite nod as they came in. Immediately, Namine jogged over to the piano, leaving Kairi and Sora to find their own seats.

The two of them snagged a pair in the front row, neither of them daring to speak, as if this was a sacred space, as if the quiet, serious magic that lingered in the air would shatter if they uttered a word. Also, both of them were busy desperately trying to digest the butterflies in their stomach.

“Riku and Ryu, please enter.” Ms. Aqua gave her papers a final tap against the table to straighten them, a tiny sound that seemed to boom through the theater. As the boys entered, as they walked to the very center of the stage, she merely folded her hands in front of her. “Whenever you're ready.”

Riku and Ryu were good actors, Kairi realised, as they launched into the scene that she and Sora knew by heart. The words barely registered, so locked in her brain they were, so used to hearing Sora deliver those lines that. In the corner of her vision, she saw Namine’s hands move, and then music filled the air. The song she could probably sing backwards, and and Riku and Ryu were singing along, dancing to, and soon _she_ was going to have to sing, _she_ was going to dance, and oh god, why was she doing this-

Sora’s hand grabbed hers. She turned her head, took in his reassuring smile, and her racing thoughts melted away.

And then he pulled her to her feet. They were headed toward the door leading back to the stage, and then back stage, and though she still didn't feel ready, Sora was smiling, and that meant she could get through this.

They waited for Ms. Aqua to call their names, then pushed through the curtains.

Kairi took a deep breath.

“I can't.” The first line of the scene spilled out of her, Kairi instinctively falling back on those afternoons in the gym, to the memories of the countless times she'd spoken these words. This was the scene right after her childhood friend had confessed to loving her, right after she'd begun to realize her true feelings, the moment before she decided to give their love a try. Kairi felt herself slip into that character, let her shoulder droop and her lip wobble, as she pushed past Sora, marching determinedly away.

“I know.” His voice yanked her character to a stop. She wanted to linger, to listen to him. Slowly, she turned. “I'm scared too.” Sora brought a hand to his heart. “But I had to tell you, I couldn't live my life scared of my own heart. Don't you see? We could be-”

“I told you,” Her voice broke, wobbling a little as she held back the sadness that welled up inside her. “I can't. I love you, but the world wouldn't-” She levelled her gaze at him, taking in his handsome features, the face she could never hold in her hands. “We aren't allowed to be an us.”

“Why! Because of fear?” He was angry now, angry that she was so desperate to stay safe, that no one would let her feel free. He stomped off, just too far away to hear her whisper.

“Yes.”

The first notes filtered through the air, soft and hesitant, just like the hope blooming in her chest.

She closed her eyes, and sang.

“ _Breath, should I take a deep?_ ” She began. Sora, on the other end of the stage, let his shoulders droop as he looked up to some nonexistent sky.

“ _Faith, should I take a leap?_ ”

“ _Taste, what a bittersweet,_ ” Their voices mingled now, as they sang the next line together, their two characters facing away from each other as they were lost in their own minds. “ _All my, all my life._ ”

Then the music picked up. Namine’s fingers flew over the keys, a storm of music swelling through the auditorium. Still singing as one, Sora and Kairi began dancing. Like two halves of a waltz, with Sora holding his hands to an imaginary waist, Kairi’s palm resting in some invisible grip, as slowly, she began to turn.

“ _Let me face, let me face, let me face my fears,_ ” they belted as one, as they danced in perfect ballroom step towards each other, towards the center of the stage. “ _Let me face let me face my fears._ ” They both looked up, and Sora was awestruck, like he was just seeing Kairi for the first time. She tried to copy the expression. As if she were casting off her inhibitions, Kairi dropped the pose, and started running to him, and he sprinted towards her. “ _Won't be long, won’t be long, I'm almost here,_ ” they called to each other.

They met in the center. They clicked together, embracing, much closer than the fake, polite dancing they’d been pantomiming earlier. In one fluid motion, she grabbed his hand, like it was a need, and placed her other hand on the small of his back.

They’d practiced this, in the gym, over and over until they were both completely in tune. But that had been when they were by themselves, when getting their feet tangled and collapsing was a laughing matter, not a serious mistake. When no one was looking at them. When Riku wasn't staring, his mouth hanging slightly open as his sparkling green eyes widened and he leaned forward in his seat. As they sang the final line, Kairi leaned forward, bringing her and Sora’s clasped hands up, and dipped Sora.

“ _Watch me cry all my tears._ ”

Just like last time, the second after the note faded seemed to last an eternity. Kairi stared into Sora’s eyes, heart pounding as she floated back down to earth, slowly taking in the details of Riku, seated in the front row and looking at them in a confused wonder. Of Ms. Aqua, clapping politely and saying “Bravo!”. Of Namine, whose fingers were still hovering over the keys, eyes closed as she savored the memory of her song.

Hesitantly, she helped Sora back to his own two feet, still gripping his hand to help steady him. As one, they took a bow.

“Thank you for your consideration.” She spoke, the polite sign off indicating that their audition was finished. Then, they turned and walked off the stage, Kairi leaning on Sora as she let him lead her past the curtains. She wondered if his legs felt as wobbly as hers did.

“Kairi,” Sora turned to her. For a split second, she thought he was going to do something dramatic, like some long speech on how proud he was of the two of them or how he knew they could do it. Instead, he just collapsed against her shoulder and let out a high pitched shriek.

She patted the top of his head, combing her fingers through his hair.

“Hey, we did okay,” she reassured him.

“I know we did,” he spoke, his voice muffled as he spoke directly into her shirt sleeve. “But that was just so… nerve wracking.”

“I know. My brain is fried. But it was...fun? Somehow?”

“Yeah. It was great.” He uncurled from her, his signature smile back in place. “It was really great.”

“Kairi? Sora?” A figure stepped out of the gloomy backstage shadows. Broad shoulders and a nervous hunch immediately gave him away, even before he stepped into the light.

“Riku!” Sora seemed physically incapable of not yelling his name every single time he caught sight of his best friend.

“I wanted to congratulate you two.” Riku glanced away, almost like he was nervous. “You two were… amazing.”

Kairi punched him lightly in the arm.

“You and Ryu were pretty awesome too.” With her compliment, he ducked his head even lower, a blush that Sora and Kairi couldn't see in the dark spreading over his cheeks.

“Yeah, where’s Ryu?” Sora stood up on his toes, craning around trying to spot the tiny emo. “I should congratulate him too.”

“He’s talking to Namine. Seemed really excited to get to know her.”

“Oh. I'll track him down later.” And then, like it was nothing, he twined his fingers with Riku’s, and, keeping his grip on Kairi’s hand, pulled them along, still not seeing the flush that was rapidly overtaking Riku’s face. “Come on, I have something for you two.”

Riku and Kairi exchanged glances.

“Lead on.”

So Sora, linked with Kairi and Riku, walked over to his backpack, which he’d dumped on one of the backstage benches, and took a seat, briefly dropping their hands to unzip it and pull out a clean white box, tied with a ribbon.

“I got a friend of mine to make these. I mean, he asked me not to tell you who, but I figured- ah shoot, I said ‘he’. Forget I said that. Anyways, this person, who shall go unnamed, got commissioned to make me some… I actually have no idea what these are called, I think they’re a new recipe and I figured you two should try some, because they’re the best things I’ve ever tasted, and they reminded me of you, and-” Sora finally realized he was rambling, and laughed nervously. He held out the box. “Here.”

Confused, and more than a bit curious, Kairi took the parcel. It was made of a creamy stiff cardstock, like the packages from a bakery, with a big purple and pink bow, which she untied and stuffed in the pocket of her skirt. Reaching over her shoulder, Riku opened the lid.

Inside, there were three pastries, shaped like stars. Buttery crust perfectly golden brown, with a sprinkling of sparkling crystals over the tops, and a few mint leaves tucked under the side to give the whole spread a pop of color. The air inside smelled like sugar and something vaguely tropical.

“They're _adorable_ ,” Kairi breathed. Riku, almost like he was afraid he might break it, picked one up. Hesitantly, he nibbled off one of the star's points.

“They’re… Mango?” Riku asked, chewing.

“Yeah!” Sora beamed. Kairi picked up one of her own and took a bite.

The pastry was light and delicate, easily giving way to the sweet, yellow jam filling that tasted tangy and bright, with just an undercurrent of cinnamon. It tasted vibrant. Kairi was immediately transported to the beach, listening to the crash of the waves on some sunny shore.

“Good, right?” Sora snagged his own. After chomping away almost half of it, he set it down again, his hands fluttered to fidget with his necklace. He cleared his throat, and Kairi and Riku knew he was getting his words in order. They waited.

“Thank you two,” he finally said. “For encouraging me to do this.”

“Awww, Sora,” Kairi slung an arm around him, pulling him into a hug. “Keep buying us pastries, and we’ll probably do _anything_ for you.”

“Or maybe even if you don't,” Riku shyly added. Kairi pulled him into the hug, laughing, and they were all hugging back, one big embrace. Happily, Kairi hummed the song they had all been singing just a few minutes before.

It was just the three of them.

And that felt strangely right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit of a journey to write. This felt like one of the first events that this story had really been building towards, and as such, wanted to make sure it was the best work I could make. So writing, rewriting, editing, and polishing this chapter took much longer than my usual weekly updates. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.  
> The other reason this chapter was a bit harder to finish in time was that I was also spending my time working on my pieces for *drumroll* Sorikai week! From August 3 to the 9th, me and a bunch of other lovely artists will be publishing daily content for our fave destiny trio, so keep an eye out for that!  
> And speaking of lovely artists, I cannot give enough thanks to [ AeroStarry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeroStarry/pseuds/AeroStarry), who helped me edit and revise this weeks chapter. Go check her out!  
> And, as always, see y'all next week.


	6. Chapter 6

By Monday, it was all anyone could talk about.

All through the hallways, in between classes, sometimes even during classes, people were gossiping. Riku felt like he couldn't go two steps without hearing the shy whispers of ‘Did you hear Riku lost the main role? To the new girl? To _Sora_?’

Which was fine. It was fine that for the first time in his life, his name was lower on the printed cast list. Just below **Leads- Sora, Kairi**.

That was fine.

It was also fine that his best friend and newly maybe-best-friend could apparently sing, and watching them dance together had birthed some weird, warm feeling in his gut. Jittery and buzzing, like he'd swallowed a jar full of bees. Okay, maybe that wasn't fine. Maybe he still didn't know how to feel about that.

But losing the main role? That was fine.

Ryu had a decidedly different opinion.

“It's not like we didn't get cast!” Ryu exploded, angrily stabbing at his pasta. The two of them were sat at their usual lunch spot, the other end of the table from the lacrosse team, which had Riku a little concerned. But glancing around, he couldn't see Sora or Kairi, so he decided it was better to just let Ryu let off some steam.

“Mhm,” he agreed noncommittally.

“It's like,” Ryu shoved his fork in his mouth. Riku was a little worried he was going to chew off the tines, with how much he was grinding his teeth. “The usual theater kids didn't land it. Whoop dee doo. Doesn't mean everyone needs to gossip about it.”

“Well _you're_ gossiping about it.” Riku pointed out before he could remember he was supposed to just let his brother rant.

Ryu actually growled.

“Shut up. I'm just saying, people don't need to be rubbing our faces in the fact that we lost.” He spiked another noodle. “To the _lacrosse captain_.”

“But we’re going to be cool about it?” Riku tapped his fingers on the lunch table nervously. “You're not going to be awful to Sora and Kairi just because they were,” He shrugged. Might as well say it. “Objectively better than us?”

“Of course. I'm a professional.” Ryu looked pretty grumpy about it, but internally, Riku let out a relieved sigh. The last thing he needed was his brother arguing with his best friend (Friends? He was still unsure.)

“Good.” Riku sensed there was more to it, but for now, that was all he needed to hear. And Ryu looked like he was done talking, so he just went back to nibbling his sandwich. Ryu’s simmering would boil over in it's own time, and, until then, it wouldn’t help to pester him about it.

Two guys walked past, on their way out of the lunchroom, and clearly joking around, like any highschool kid had the right to. Really, Riku shouldn't have been able to hear them, much less be listening in, but Ryu’s frosty silence meant he caught most of it.

“-Yeah, Sora’s gonna be the star of the school musical.” One of the guys laughed, poking the other with his elbow. “Like, ‘Dude. Stay in your lane.’”

Riku was halfway to his feet, ready to correct them, but Vanitas beat him to it.

“Because god forbid people be allowed to be multifaceted individuals,” he snarked from the other end of the table. Immediately, the student turned away from his friend. He looked over, taking in Vanitas’s cool, almost tired posture, and apparently decided that this was a fight he could afford to pick. It probably didn't help that Vanitas was five foot nothing and looked like a moderately scraggly racoon.

“What’d you say?”

“Van.” Ventus tugged on his brother's sleeve, trying to diffuse the situation. He shot the two guys his trademark innocent smile.

Vanitas wouldn't be dissuaded.

“I said,” He shoved aside his lunch, before stepping up on the tabletop, glowering down at the offending student as he pulled himself to his full height. “That I make fifty percent of all goods for the yearly bake sale. Ventus runs a poetry blog in his spare time. Roxas and the debate club president spend their weekends competing with a _state renowned_ skating team.” Van was almost seething. “And you have barely enough talent to do anything but run your mouth about the people more skillful and competent than you could ever dream to be. So why don't you stay in _your_ lane,” He held up an accusatory finger, jabbing it in the guy’s chest. “And. Mind. Your. Own. Business.”

“Van,” Ventus tugged again at his clothes. This time, it was his pant cuff. “You're kind of shouting.”

The whole cafeteria was staring at them, at Vanitas, perched on the table like it was a soapbox, and the guys, who were slowly making a sheepish exit. A few kids started clapping. From the back, someone even let out a small cheer.

Vanitas flopped back into his seat.

“Van,” Riku slid down the bench, until he was right across him. “That was awesome.”

“Whatever.” Van grumbled. Now that his speech was done, he seemed almost embarrassed. He was intensely staring at the comic book Roxas was reading (Who hadn't even looked up once during the whole affair.) Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a pair of big, chunky looking earphones, settling them on his head with almost textbook teenage moodiness.

“Wow.”

Riku nearly dislocated his neck with how fast he turned around.

Sora and Kairi were standing behind him, clearly having walked in mid-rant, and were staring openly at Vanitas; Sora with open pride towards his teammate, and Kairi with an embarrassed rage. Their lunch trays were held limply in their hands, clearly forgotten.

“So,” Kairi, with an almost measured nonchalance, sat down beside Riku. She threw a dark look at the retreating students, and Riku got the feeling that if Ms. Aerith wasn't already keeping a close eye on their table, she would have said something particularly vulgar. “You bake?”

“Whatever,” Vanitas repeated, wiggling deeper into a hunch.

“I just mean, am I right in assuming you're Sora’s secret baker contact?” she asked. Immediately, Van perked up.

“Yeah. Are you one the people he texted me about, demanding I make pastry for?”

“That’s me,” she grinned. “They were amazing, by the way.”

“Really? Not too much orange zest?”

“Of course not! They were like-” Kairi gestured widely, apparently forgetting the half open ketchup packet in her hands.

Also apparently forgetting that she was right next to Riku, who happened to be wearing his favorite sequined top that day.

She accidentally smacked him, right across the chest.

And ketchup smeared _everywhere_.

“Oh my gosh-” Kairi immediately clapped a hand over her mouth. “I'm sorry, that was an accident, I-”

Riku was out of his seat like a shot, down the hall, rushing out of a side door.

A few years ago, the bio students had obtained the funding (And, more importantly, the permission) to set up a small garden, just off the side of the cafeteria. Raised dirt beds, bursting with herbs and plants and greenery, plus a small shed of supplies. It was quiet, and it was where Riku had fled.

Footsteps echoed behind him.

“I'm so sorry, Riku I-”

“It alright.” He waved off her apology. Still, she persisted.

“No it's not, that looked expensive.”

“Kairi,” Riku sat down on one of the benches. He patted the space beside him. “It's just clothes.”

“You’ve got really nice clothes,” Kairi groaned, but she did relent, taking a seat beside him. Hesitantly, she peeked out between her fingers. “You're not mad at me?”

“Kairi, no.” He held out his hands. Hesitantly, Kairi lowered hers from her face, laying them in Riku’s open palms.

“Are you sure? You stormed out of there like-”

“It's the nearest sink.” Riku nodded to the industrial faucet in the corner, where students could wash the dirt off their hands before heading back to class. Kairi blushed a little.

“Oh.”

Now that he was certain she knew he wasn't mad, Riku stood up. He managed to take a few steps towards the sink before the context of the situation fully caught ups with him. With Kairi here, he very well couldn't take off his shirt to clean it, which had been his plan. And it wasn't like he could ask her to leave.

Kairi, somehow able to understand his dilemma, shrugged off her jacket.

“Here.” She held it out to him, smiling. “It's the least I can do.”

“Thanks,” Riku responded lamely. Why did his throat feel so dry? It was like anything he could have said evaporated the second he glimpsed Kairi’s shoulders, proudly shown off with the tank top she was wearing underneath. He was so concerned with not making a fool of himself that he barely even noticed that the hoodie she’d given him was bright pink, had fabric ears stitched into the hood, and barely reached his bellybutton. He shrugged it on, and through some wriggling, managed to pull off his shirt. Kairi modestley turned away, which he was thankful for, because he wasn't sure if he could have kept his face from exploding in crimson.

“Sorry. I guess I overreacted.” Kairi picked up their conversation right where they’d left off, like that whole awkward clothes swap hadn't happened. Riku busied himself with scrubbing at the stain, but nodded to let her know he was listening. “I just think you’re a really cool friend. Didn't want to ruin that.”

A lump rose in Riku’s throat. He glanced away. God, how was she so much like Sora?

No. That wasn't it. She was like Sora, with the way she laughed easily, the way she smiled kindly, the way she sang with her whole heart. But she was so different in so many ways. That fierce determination, so contrasting to Sora’s easygoing nature. The quiet way she listened. The quick wit she wasn't afraid to show off in class. The red freckles scattered across her cheeks.

Really, the biggest similarity between the two was the way something in his chest fluttered and buzzed when they were around.

“I told you, it's not a problem,” he felt himself say, forcing his thoughts away from that earnest gaze and perfect freckles. Seriously, what was happening? It was like he was seeing Kairi with the same lens he saw-

The bell rang before he could even finish that thought. Or scoff at it's ludicrousness.

“I have to get to class,” Kairi apologized. She grinned, almost impishly. “You can keep my jacket.”

Right. He couldn't exactly put back on his damp shirt.

“Oh.” His efforts to keep a flush from his face finally failed, and he felt himself blush. Just a little. “Okay. See you at rehearsal?”

“Wouldn't miss it for anything.”

She smiled one more time before slipping out the door.

And Riku was left alone, desperately trying to ignore the fact that he was clinging the hoodie around him a little tighter than strictly necessary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter update this week.  
> Due to both story reasons and Sorikai week (cough cough, shameless plug), both this and next weeks update are a bit on the smaller side. It's all good though, because it means we get all the little fluff scenes that aren't necessarily important to the plot, but goshdarn it if they aren't cute. Like this week chapter of good ol' Riku is Bad at Feelings.  
> And if you like those kind of shenanigans, heres to seeing all y'all next week.


	7. Chapter 7

“Alright, children, listen up!” Ms. Aqua clapped her hands twice, commanding the attention of the full room. Not that there was much attention to command. The huge stage, finally cleared of the props, sets, and general mess that the gang had gotten used to seeing in their first week of classes was now gone, replaced by four students and one accompanist.

Kairi tried to not let it make her feel small.

Beside her, Sora looked completely unconcerned with the vastness of the space. He was happily swaying from side to side, his attention locked on their teacher and the task at hand. In his lap, he fiddled with the corners of the pages of his script. They'd gotten them a few days ago, and Kairi had read the whole thing cover to cover. There really was something special about it, something electric to the words that had Kairi imagining every line and how she would say it. It wasn't hard to see why Aqua had stopped everything to put on this show.

“Okay, so today we’re just going to do a read through and do some character work.” Namine spoke up as she shuffled around the sheet music on her piano. She turned around on her bench so she was facing the cast. “Song practice will start next week, and that’s going to take up a big chunk of our rehearsal time, so this will probably be our only day of straight acting.”

“That’s right.” Ms. Aqua added, some might say with a little too much devilish glee. On her desk (The audition table was staying as a semi-permanent fixture.), she flipped open her own script. “Now, I know that all of you know each other, but everyone, please introduce yourself and who you'll be playing.”

“I'm Kairi, and I'll be playing Katherine.”

“I’m Sora, and I'm Ross.”

“My name’s Riku, and I was cast as Damek.”

“Ryu, and I'll be the narrator.”

“Um,” Sora stuck his hand in the air.

“Yes, Sora?”

“I’m a little confused as to why this show has a narrator.” He nodded to Ryu. “No offense.”

“None taken.”

“I mean,” Sora continued. “I just kind of associate those with plays that are a little more-”

“Childish? Yes, that is a good question.” Namine twisted in her seat. “Ryu, why is your character telling this story?”

“Aren't you the writer?” he shot back.

Namine hummed noncommittally, and it was the exact second they realised that neither of their directors were going to be doing them any favors. Ryu groaned.

“He's not telling it,” he started, grumbling quietly to himself, but gaining confidence as he continued to speak. “It's happening, and he's just... observing.”

“Any idea why he's doing that?”

“He wants them to get together so…” He flipped through the script, sneaking a quick glance at Namine. Kairi, who was paying particularly close attention, noticed that he was faintly blushing. “I don't know.”

“That’s alright.” She swiveled around again, this time setting Sora in her sights. He smiled nervously. “Sora, why are you only just now realising your feelings for Katherine?”

“I've been… busy?”

“Hm. Think up some elaborations to that. We’ll come back to you.” She turned again. Kairi thought she was starting to look a bit like the spinner of a game wheel, and they were all different brightly colored slices, proclaiming various prizes. The thought made her both giggle, and anxious for when the pointer landed on her. “Riku, do you really love Katherine?”

“Yes,” he answered immediately, like he’d just been waiting to be asked. Namine made a ‘go on’ gesture. “He’s loved her for years, and he’s just starting to work up the courage to proclaim it.” Across the loose circle they’d formed, Sora nodded. Once again, his hand shot into the air.

“Can I expand my answer?”

“Absolutely.”

“Ross knows that Deralt is in love with Katherine. He’s tried to ignore his own crush because he wants the two of them to be happy.”

“Compelling. I like it.” She nodded approvingly, before finally whirling on Kairi. “Katherine, how do you feel about all of this?”

“I think…” She thought about the girl in the pages of her script, the girl who danced and sang because simply speaking wasn't enough to voice all the conflicted emotions in her heart, the girl torn between two worlds. With one man, the grit and earnestness of a life she could have led. With the other, the avant garde and glam of a life she still could. And, strangely enough, something in her chest, something that was decidedly not Katherine, ached at the thought of choosing. “I think Katherine loves both of them.”

“Really?” Namine seemed genuinely surprised by that, straightening up and staring at her with curiosity. Though, by the looks of it, it wasn't a bad surprise. She was smiling as she thought to herself, processing Kairi’s words. “Interesting.”

“Yeah, she does.” She hadn't understood how the boys had just been able to elaborate on their characters with barely a moment of thought, but as she said it, she knew it was true, and the words poured out of her. “She doesn't know how to feel about it, exactly, the situation’s too complex for her to try and rock the boat. And I think, similar to Ross, she’s been trying to deny it so that she can have a relationship with Deralt. It's just…” Once again, she searched for the words, and found they came easily. “Safer, to not want anything more.”

Namine nodded, and jotted a note down. Ryu, who had been watching the whole exchange with curiosity, finally sat back, his face clear with understanding.

“What about you, Namine? Who are you playing?”

“Me?” She glanced up. “I'm the composer?”

“No, like in the play. Are you going to be on stage, your piano off to the side, like at auditions?”

“We-” She and Aqua shared a quick look, mentally rifling through the set design sketches and blocking notes. They both drew a blank. “-hadn't planned that far yet. I suppose…”

“If you're on stage, you need a character,” Ryu asserted as he leaned forward, strangely invested. Kairi thought on his blush from earlier.

“What, like an author insert?” Namine joked.

“No,” He thought for a moment. “More like fate.”

“Fate, huh?” She stuck her pencil in the corner of her mouth, seemingly lost in consideration. Slowly, a smile spread across her face. “I like the sound of that.”

“So, what's your motivation?” Ryu pressed.

“I want Ross and Katherine to realize their feelings for each other.”

“That's why I'm telling this story.” He sat back, nodding. “I want your character to be happy.”

“Once, very long ago, time fell in love with fate,” Namine mused. She bent to scribble a note in the corner of her sheet music, which meant she was the only person in the room that didn't see Ryu’s (now very noticeable) blush.

“What?” he stammered.

“It's a line from a book.”

“I guess…” Ryu ducked his head, tugging his beanie down. He was almost mumbling, but they all managed to catch what he said. “I guess Chance might have some feelings for her.”

“Chance?” Namine smiled. “Like the concept or the name?”

“Yeah.”

“Chance has fallen for Fate.” She shot Ryu a mischievous look.“What a coincidence.”

Ryu, picking up on the wordplay, grinned.

“No, I think it was meant to be.”

Aqua cleared her throat. Very loudly.

“Well. I'm very glad we were able to do character work. Now, let's begin the cold read.”

Kairi hid her smirk behind her script. Over the top of the page, she caught sight of Sora doing the exact same thing. Their eyes met, and both had to bite their lip to restrain giggles. Riku siddled over to the two of them.

“I'm confused,” he muttered, also disguising his actions by pretending to be very engrossed in his script. He flipped to a random page, his eyes glued to the lines. “What are we laughing about?”

Kairi ignored the buzz that ran through her when he said ‘we’. She knocked her shoulder into his, feigning pointing out some passage, while Sora leaned in closer too, nudging the three of them into an impromptu huddle, perfect for gossiping.

“Riku,” she whispered conspiratorially. “Your brother is hardcore flirting with Namine.”

“Oh.” Riku squinted across the room, to Ryu, chatting amiably with their accompanist. He shrugged. “I'm really bad at spotting that kind of stuff.”

Kairi snorted. She brushed her fingers against the hood of Riku’s jacket, _her_ jacket, that he was still wearing despite the fact it was almost two sizes too small for him. On his other side, Sora was leaning against him, practically sprawled in his lap.

“Obviously.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorikai: *basically confesses their crushes through the thin veil of theatre work*  
> Ryu: *does the exact same thing* Like this?  
> Sorikai: :o  
> Another drabble chapter! As I mentioned last week, 7 and 6 are shorter chapters, due to my daily ficlets I posted for [ Sorikai week](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/sorikaiweek)! It was such a blast to write so many short stories, and I got to know so many awesome creators and fellow sorikai fans. If you haven't already, I encourage you to check out all the wonderful work that got posted for this event. And, another shoutout to [ AeroStarry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeroStarry/pseuds/AeroStarry), who once again helped me edit this chapter and kept you guys from being handed a plate of word spaghetti.  
> Now, I'm off to recuperate from fic writing overdose, and then I'll be back next week with a new chapter, this time following the hjinks of a few other, non-sorikai, students.  
> See yall next week!


	8. Chapter 8

The bell above the door chimed a familiar note as Xion pushed it open, Roxas close behind her. The Clocktower Ice Cream Parlor was almost their second home, a cozy little shop with fogged glass display cases, board games with mismatched pieces, and, true to its name, dozens and dozens of antique clocks hanging from the walls. All of them were set to a different time. Oversized armchairs were squashed up against modern booths, and the clean tile was almost buried under a quilt of red and orange rugs. The largest wall had a mural painting, depicting a fantastical town, illuminated by the slanting rays of sunset. Each building bore its own real life timepiece, lovingly integrated into the scene, from the tiny watch faces hung in the eaves of cottages, to the enormous grandfather clock that formed the city’s central clocktower. Xion sucked in a deep breath, relishing the smell of freshly baked waffle cones.

It was heaven.

“I'll go order for us,” she said, slinging her tied-together skates over her shoulder. The two of them had just gotten out of their weekend skate meet. Coming to Clocktower’s after was a tradition they'd been doing for years now. She could probably order their ice cream in her sleep. “Meet you at our table?”

“Someone is already sitting there,” Roxas grumbled.

“What?” She whirled. It wasn't like there weren't plenty of other empty tables they could take. But it was like a class with no seating chart; technically, there was nothing wrong with sitting somewhere new. But no one ever moved. And walking in one day to see some person lounging in your usual place left a pit of acid bubbling in your gut. Xion glared at the scrappy teen who had the _gall_ to invade their table territory.

It took her a few seconds to recognize the dusty gray bangs peeking out from beneath their beanie.

“Ryu?” she asked. He startled when she called his name, turning, and yup, that smudgy eyeliner couldn't belong to anyone else. Roxas, who also had taken a second to recognize his best friend’s-best friend’s-younger brother, finally caught on, and the two of them made their way over. Xion gave a friendly wave. She didn't know Ryu that well, and neither did Roxas, but the three of them were acquainted enough that it didn't feel awkward sliding into the side of the booth opposite him.

Besides, well, it _was_ their table.

“Xion. Hey,” Ryu gave a stiff, awkward wave, apparently actually surprised to see her. “Sorry. Sora told Riku that Roxas is here on Saturdays, and I happened to overhear. Didn't know it was a group thing.”

“Well then, you're lucky it's just the two of us.” Roxas drummed his fingers on the table, his eyes narrowed. Xion wasn't sure if he was feeling annoyed at being ambushed, or just annoyed at the delay between him and ice cream. “Tonight’s Lea and Isa’s date night, otherwise they'd be here too. So, what’s up?”

“And does it have anything to do with the fact that the wonder twins just walked in?” Xion asked, nodding to Ventus and Vanitas as they stepped into the parlor, heralded by the bell above the door. The two of them looked around for a minute, before Ventus spotted Ryu and came over to the booth, Vanitas dragging his heels behind him.

“We’re here,” Ventus announced, a bit unnecessarily, as he took a seat beside Ryu. He gave Roxas a friendly ‘I don't know why I'm here but it's good to see you’ shrug. To which Roxas responded with a ‘If I have to wait another minute before getting ice cream I will start a fight’ glare. Xion was all too familiar with that glare. It was a surprisingly common look on Roxas. Surreptitiously, she pulled out her notebook and started drawing up an order sheet. Vanitas, apparently unwilling to squeeze in and overcrowd the four-person booth occupancy, took his seat directly on the table top.

“Care to tell us why we were invited?” he asked.

“I didn't invite you,” Ryu smirked. “I invited Ventus. I specifically texted you, ‘ _Don't_ follow Ventus’. And lo and behold!” He spread his arms, gesturing to the two of them. “Both of the twins!”

“Whatever.” Vanitas stuck out his tongue. “I'm not doing any plotting with you until you buy me ice cream.”

“Seconded,” Roxas endorsed immediately. Ryu grumbled, but started digging around for his wallet.

“Fine.”

So the notebook was passed around, each of them scrawled in their orders, and Ryu was sent off to the front counter, still griping about paying. While they were waiting, the boys immediately struck up a conversation, and Xion jumped in where she could, though she couldn't quite keep up with all the lacrosse talk. That, and it was clear neither had seen her since before winter break, and Roxas had to loudly refer to her by name several times before they remembered it.

After a few minutes, she excused herself to go help Ryu.

“Need a hand?”

“Yes please.” He looked comically overwhelmed, trying to juggle four bowls and one clear plastic cup, which was filled with some kind of smoothie-looking sludge. Xion took a few from him, taking the opportunity to sample everyone's order in the second it took to walk back to the table. Sadly, none of them had ordered as well as her and Roxas.

“Okay we've got Triple Chocolate Death," she declared, holding up the first bowl. Vanitas raised his hand.

“Thats mine.”

“Don't know how you can eat that, but I'll allow it.” She wrinkled her nose, remembering the dark cocoa taste that still lingered in her mouth, but passed his order down the table.

“Yay,” Vanitas muttered. He snatched it away from her, and immediately started going to town, digging into the chunks of fudge with enthusiastic malice. It would have been intimidating, if she wasn't friends with Roxas, who she had once seen demolish a pint in ten seconds flat. She moved on to the next bowl.

“Alright, who the fuck ordered Lavender?”

“That’s me.” Ventus held up his hand. With a scoff, Xion passed his down as well.

“I didn't even know they sold lavender ice cream,” Roxas commented. Ryu leaned over Ventus’s shoulder, staring at the innocently plain looking scoop.

“What's it taste like?” he asked.

“Lavender.”

“That- No!” Vanitas wriggled in place, gesticulating wildly. “That's not an explanation! None of us just go around eating straight flowers!”

“That means Ryu you're-” Xion took a sip of the ugly smoothie. “Berry Blast sherbet blended with… Coffee?”

“Yup.” He held out a hand, and Xion was all too happy to give him the cup, then get as far away from the unholy concoction as possible. She flopped down in her seat next to Roxas.

“Roxas, your friends have garbage ice cream opinions.” She slid him their usual, then held up her own. "Cheers?”

“Cheers.” He bopped their two bowls together.

“What flavor did you guys get?” Ryu asked.

“Sea salt.” Xion had to answer, because Roxas was already too busy devouring his ice cream.

“Caramel?”

“No. Just sea salt.”

“Then I don't think you're in a position to criticize.”

“Just shut up and drink your sludge.” Xion blew a raspberry across the table, before tucking in to her ice cream. “You still haven't explained why you're here,” she remarked through a mouthful of frozen treat.

Ryu sighed. He set down his cup, and squared his shoulders. For just a few seconds, his mouth moved but no sound came, like he was rehearsing lines.

“I need help,” he finally said. “And I need Sora’s friends to do it.” One last deep breath, one last determined set of the shoulders. All at once, the words stumbled out of him. “Riku has a crush on Sora.”

Roxas simply raised a single eyebrow.

“In other news. Water. Wet.”

“Yeah, Ri, I'm pretty sure that was the headline of last century's newspaper.” Vanitas grumbled.

Ventus fiddled with his paper napkin.

“I mean, I was going to pretend I hadn't noticed.”

Xion just frowned, lost in thought as she scraped the sides of her bowl for the last dregs of ice cream, and said nothing.

“Wait, you guys know? And you're not doing anything about it?” Ryu smacked his hands on the table, startling Vanitas from his perch, who fell over and onto the floor. Roxas ignored the muffled cursing, and made no move to help him. He just shrugged.

“Not our business. Plus, Sora’s like, really blind.”

“Tell me about it.” Ryu groaned and thowmped facedown into his placemat. “Yesterday they were holding hands while they rehearsed lines and practically cuddling. They were reading through one of the romance scenes and Riku could barely get through a single sentence without blushing. And then he started playing with his hair and- ugh. It's hard to feel like you're intruding when they specifically invited you to help run lines but those useless gays managed it.” After a few seconds, he peeled his face away from the tabletop, shooting a look around at the gathered teens. “So, you're not willing to help?”

“Hang on. We didn't say that.” Ventus waved Ryu’s question away. “What _exactly_ do you want us to help with?”

“I want to help them get together.”

“You,” Vanitas finally clambered back to his feet, and pointed his spoon at Ryu. “Are a decidedly weird kid.” Ventus elbowed him.

“You're just jealous I'm not trying to find _you_ a boyfriend.”

“So,” Roxas interrupted before Vanitas could start complaining. “What's the plan?”

“That's what I need you guys for,” Ryu admitted. He sat back, taking in the ragtag team of jocks he’d assembled. He slurped the last dregs of his shake.

“What if-” Roxas started. Ryu silenced him with a wave of his hand.

“Keep in mind.That I have basically tried everything at this point,” He stared out the window, off into the distance with an expression usually seen on war-shocked veterans, clearly reliving years of schemes, though with perhaps unnecessary stoicism. He raised a cautionary finger. “Everything.”

“Really?” Roxas asked, leaning forward. Xion found herself intrigued too, curious just how bizarre this shenanigans campaign got, even though a nagging thought was wiggling still around in her mind.

“Finish that sentence.” Ryu smiled tiredly.

“What if one of us ‘accidentally’ booked a table at a nice restaurant when we already had something else planned, and gave them the dinner so it didn't go to waste?”

“Did that. Riku ordered five servings of garlic bread and Sora somehow befriended the chef. They eat there for half price on their birthdays.”

“Lock them in a closet for two hours,” Vanitas suggested.

“They just had a lovely chat about the current sports season and gardening.”

“What if,” Ventus drew the whole table’s attention with a flutter of his hands. He smiled with assurance to them all, like he was a genius. “We send each of them a note saying that the other wants to confess their crush to the other and to meet them at a certain place at a certain time, then when they both show up expecting the other to say something so they have to talk about their feelings!”

They all stared at him.

Funnily enough,” Ryu drawled. “I haven't tried that one yet. Mostly because it doesn't work _outside of romantic comedies_?”

“We’re still in the brainstorming phase,” Roxas reassured him, patting Ventus on the shoulder, though she could tell he was trying hard to snicker. So was the rest of the table. But to Xion, Ventus’s proposition finally spotlighted the absurdity of the situation, and the nagging thought in the back of her head refused to live unvoiced any longer. She bit her lip.

“Should we really be trying to meddle?”

Ryu snorted.

“If those two can't get their act together at this point, it's our duty to meddle.”

“Whats up, Xi?” Roxas bumped his shoulder into hers, pulling her back to the present. The worry in her skull was still a gnarled tangle, nowhere near ironed into a comprehensible thought, but she opened her mouth anyway, completely unaware of what she was going to say next.

“It's just-”

It wasn't that it felt rude. It was just that, this whole conversation, Xion could only think of Kairi. The smart, clever, and funny redhead who always laughed at Xion's weird jokes and who could keep her cool wit during even the most heated debates. And maybe it was because she was the first complete stranger Xion had come out to, and had taken it in stride and barely even blinked, but also because she was smart, and kind, and always willing to banter one moment and affectionately argue the next, that Xion was beginning to think of her as a sister. She felt some kind of protectiveness flare up inside her, the urge to speak up. Kairi had, in just two weeks, attached herself to the boys at the hip. These days, you could hardly see one of the upcoming theater stars without also spotting the other two walking beside, arms linked as they chatted and made their way down the hall. How would she feel, suddenly being made the third wheel?

And, while Xion couldn't deny the loving glances shared between the boys, she could swear there was something between Kairi and Riku, or maybe Kairi and Sora-

She shook her head. No. She was probably reading too much into it. She could be a bit of a romantic, sometimes.

“It's nothing.” She finished lamely, which convinced Ventus, Vanitas, and Ryu, who shrugged and went back to brainstorming. Roxas though, he knew her too well, and shot her a concerned look. Underneath the table, he took her hand and gave a comforting squeeze. He would ask her about it later, help her untangle the snarls.

“Don't worry,” Ryu encouraged. With a flick of the wrist, he tossed his empty cup towards the trashcan, which he missed by a country mile. This prompted an eruption of snickering from the boys, and a garbage throwing contest that ended with everyone but Ryu making it into the can. He grumbled some more as he had to make the walk of shame over to properly throw away his cup, before he finally remembered he’d been in the middle of saying something. He turned back to Xion. “Riku’s will talk at length about how in love with Sora he is if given half a chance. Just not to the guy's face. But trust me, he’s head over heels. And Sora? I've been around the guy my whole life. I have no idea if he even knows it yet, but he likes Riku just as much. Even if he’s a bit… different in how he handles it.”

She turned his words, lining them up in her mind and examining his facts against her own observations. Was Riku smitten with Sora? Yes. Did Sora treat his best friend with that same love and affection, a different flavor of fondness than how he handled his platonic relationships? Yes. What hurt could come from the two finally admitting that?

And, as she further considered Ryu’s speech, a plan began to form in her mind.

“ _Riku’s will talk at length about how in love with Sora he is if given half a chance. Just not to the guy's face._ ”

She rapped her knuckles against the table, calling everyone attention to her. As the four of them turned to her, a devious smile began to grow on her face.

“I have an idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what this fic needed more of? Heart Squad shenanigans.  
> I'm still stubbornly keeping my HSM fusion tag, but even I have to admit this chapter is purely made from my own desire to write some kids eating icecream. It would hardly be a Kingdom Hearts fic without it. But next chapter, I promise, we're back to following the original movies plot. Ish. You guys know me well enough at this point.  
> In other housekeeping news, This chapter was once again edited by [ AeroStarry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeroStarry/pseuds/AeroStarry), who continues to be lovely. I also plan on doing some revamps of this fics tagging system when the next chapter comes out, finally getting everything sorted away and tidy, as well as (possibly?) adding chapter summaries to each update. Though I admit, I'm still not 100% certain on that. Do you guys think I should add chapter summaries? Let me know in the comments.  
> And, as always, see y'all next week!


	9. Chapter 9

Sora let out an exhausted sigh, flopping down on the locker room bench. Not even bothering to look, he rummaged in his bag for a water bottle, and splashed some across his face, cleaning away the last two hours of accumulated sweat grime. Today's practice had been backbreaking. Terra was getting serious about making it to state this season, and as rewarding as it was to see his teammates finally pull off complicated passes and maneuvers, coming in to spend hours practicing right after leaving afternoon rehearsal left him worn out. Sora sighed and started wiping off his face. In the cool softness of the towel, he closed his eyes, and allowed himself a minute of respite.

Not that he would give up either. Sure, balancing the show and the team took a lot out of him, but lacrosse was his passion. And, as he was slowly learning, theatre was too. Acting, singing, drilling dance numbers, it was all the same demanding but satisfying kind of work that he loved. Sitting at the piano with Namine, listening carefully as she explained to him a melody that had been trapped in her head all morning, guiding him through the basic notes, it was like nothing he’d ever done before. But it felt right nonetheless. And getting to spend whole afternoons with Kairi and Riku. Working together to make something. Laughing and joking with them as they ran lines. Watching Riku and Kairi sing in perfect harmony...

It was a good thing that Sora had his face buried in a towel, so no one could see him blush.

“Whatcha listening to?” Roxas tapped him on the shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts. Sora turned around, popping his earbuds out so he could talk properly.

“The musical. Namine recorded all of the songs for us so we could listen and learn the lyrics…” He trailed off, seeing Roxas’s face drop to disinterest as soon as the word ‘musical’ was mentioned. “You don't care, sorry.”

“No! I do.” Roxas shook his head, dismissing his concerns. He thumped Sora on the back. “Just want to make sure you're not overworking yourself. You always get really involved with the new season, and now your rehearsals every other day. Just feels like we haven't had the chance to hang out much.”

Sorry.” Sora moved to drying off his hair, ruffling it back into his distinctive spikes. “There's just been so much, with the show and practices. I'm sorry.”

“No need to apologize, Sor. We just want to make sure you're taking time off. To, you know. Relax."

“Take a break,” Ventus piped up. “When was the last time you took a breather and spent the night out with Riku?"

Sora dropped his water bottle.

“That was a secret.” He shot an accusatory glare at Ventus, who, strangely, looked entirely too conspiratory.

They’d found the island when they were children. Really, calling it an ‘island’ was generous, a strip of sand and a few plants that didn't get covered by high tide, just a short swim off the coast. When they were younger, all of their friends were there every weekend, splashing and playing. But, as everyone got older and outgrew playdates or moved away, Riku and him still went. They packed a bag with blankets and snacks and took a boat over, tying it around the single tree that grew on the island. And they'd camp there for the night, looking up at the stars.

The team had learned about it a few years back, when he’d invited them to the island after the game. They’d all laughed and played and enjoyed themselves, but it wasn't really their thing, and a second trip had never been made. Probably for the best. Riku had frowned and bristled the entire evening, quiet in the way that Sora knew meant he was upset.

Ventus was right. The two of them hadn’t had the chance to visit since the previous summer.

“When are you going to ask that guy out anyway?” Vanitas asked, tossing some loose gear in his locker with a clan. The noise conveniently covered up Sora’s sputtering.

“This again? What's with the sudden interest in my love life?” Only last week the team had been on his case about Kairi. Sora frowned, and chucked a towel at Vanitas. “Also. What?”

“Come on Sora, how blind can you be? The dude’s crazy about you.”

“He is not.” He felt the heat in his cheeks flare. Again.

It wasn't like he hadn't thought about it before. There were plenty of times throughout the years they'd known each other where Sora had considered coming out and saying “Hey, you're my best friend in the whole wide world and I love you, wanna date?”. He _liked_ Riku, liked in the way where it had taken him years to separate the platonic feeling from the romantic ones, so closely were they intertwined. Riku was his constant, so much so that it almost felt understated to say that Sora loved him. Is love too small of a word for the person who feels like part of the foundation you’re built on?

But if Riku had wanted anything more than what they already had, he would have said something. It would be rude to take his friendship for granted.

“He’s not.” he repeated again, this time to convince himself as much as his teammates.

“I wouldn't be too sure about that,” Roxas remarked, with that same conspiratory smile that Ven had been wearing, though just a touch more smug. He typed something on his phone, which dinged with the sound of a sent text message. He tapped the screen a few more times. The murmuring of voices began echoing from the speakers.

Roxas handed his phone to Sora.

The feed was a video, clearly being filmed by a less-than-professional cameraman, who’d shoved their phone in some pocket of a backpack, the lens just barely peeking out, recording the bubbling tanks and empty desks of the biology classroom. Sora vaguely remembered Mr. Barrett, the environmental science teacher, saying that he needed some students to come in after school and feed the fish. Almost completely filling the frame, Riku was leaning over one of the tanks. And to the side, he could just make out the distinctive black jacket of Xion.

From behind the camera, a voice he recognized as Ryu spoke up.

“Are we almost done here?”

“Hang on for a half a second.” Riku, still turned away and seemingly oblivious to the camera, waved away his brother's impatience. He made some kissy noises to the fish. “Who’s a good fishy? You are!”

Sora’s heart melted.

“Is this live?” he asked hoarsely.

“Yeah.” Roxas thumped him on the shoulder, and distantly Sora realized the whole team was crowded around him, watching for his reaction and offering reassuring pats.

“Well, hurry up.” Ryu spoke again, pulling Sora’s attention back to the video. “We need to pick up Sora for your date."

“It's not a date,” Riku corrected, finally turning away from the tanks, still unaware of the camera. It could have been a trick of the light, but it almost looked like he was blushing.

“You're taking him to dinner. Just the two of you. On a Sunday evening.”

“Not a date.”

“I'm no expert,” Xion finally walked fully into frame, a tray of fish food in her hands. “But that sounds like a date. Might be a good time to tell him you l-”

“What?” Riku’s hands flew to his face, and he did an adorable job of trying to hide behind them. He peeked out through his fingers and shot a glance at Ryu. “Does she know?”

“Dude, practically the whole school knows.” Xion scoffed. She hopped up to sit cross legged on one of the empty desks. “Though I’ll admit, I don't exactly see why.”

“You _don't_?” Riku’s voice practically cracked with disbelief, and Sora had to bite his lip to keep tears from escaping. The honesty, the adoration, the way Riku seemingly returned his feelings-

“He's kind.” On the tiny screen, Riku began to pace. “Above everything else, he's kind to everyone he meets. He's always excited to make a friend, even if they don't get him, he keeps trying. He's stubborn. Once he sets his mind to something there's no going back. And earnest, too. The way he's determined and open but you can be assured it will never be cheesy. And when he starts talking about something, and you can tell he's really interested. He loves so much, sometimes I wonder if his heart hurts, from loving that much, that deeply.”

It did. Especially right now, when his heart was doing it's best impression of a tap dance inside his ribcage.

Riku took a deep breath.

“I love him.”

The ground fell out beneath him. There wasn't enough air in his lungs. The salty, happy tears he’d been holding back finally leaked out.

“When are you going to tell him?” Xion asked. Riku groaned, and retreated behind his hands again.

“I don't know. I try, but then I get all flustered and he somehow becomes more adorable and then- I don't know.” He sighed, running his fingers through his hair, which Sora was faintly realizing was one of most beautiful things in the entire universe. “Maybe I’ll tell him someday."

Ryu’s hand covered the lens as he reached into his backpack pocket. Triumphantly, he waggled the screen at Riku.

“You just did.”

“I what?” “You-” Riku snatched the phone from him. When he saw who was on the other end of the call, he froze. “Um, hi Sora.”

Sora stared down at the phone in his hands, gaping. He could see his own face in a little corner of the frame, flushed and surprised and trying to process. Riku’s eyes widened. “Sora, I-”

Sora threw down the phone, and took off running.

-

He skiddered around another corner. The rubber soles of his shoes pounded on the tile, making an awful squeaking sound that did not pair at all with the dramatic music that was playing in his head. With the small part of his brain that was still coherent, he recognized the melody, the simple piece Namine had practicing, this afternoon, eyes closed and lost in the music.

_“That’s beautiful,” he’d said. “Is it for the show?”_

_“No. I was just trying something out.” She’d paused, and pushed away from the piano, looking up at him. It was like she’d been just waiting for someone to ask. He knew the feeling. Eager to listen, he took a seat on the bench beside her. “I woke up with this theme in my head, and it refused to quiet down until I let it out. Here,” Gently, she guided his hands onto the keys. “Try it.”_

_He pushed down._

_The piano let out a screeching note._

_“I don't think I’ll be replacing you any time soon,” he joked. Namine smiled, and scooched over, letting him take the entire left side of the piano. On the other end, she began playing, starting at the furthest keys, then slowly working her way into the center._

_Sora copied her movements._

_It wasn't nearly as beautiful, nowhere near decent, but there was a charm to his halting notes, mixing with Namine’s practiced grace. The way their fingers danced towards each other, the melody getting faster until, finally, they met in the middle._

_Kind of like his audition dance with Kairi._

Kind of like how he was now, wildly careening through the halls.

_“What’s it about?” he’d asked. “Love?”_

_Namine had merely smiled._

_“That's the beauty of a song,” They began again, from the top, starting slowly at the edges. Sora’s notes were a little less hesitant this time. The speed picked up, and once again, they crashed together._

He turned the last corner.

_“Every one is a little bit about falling in love.”_

Riku was standing at the other end of the hall, also clearly winded from sprinting through the school to find him. Sora stared at him, and Riku stared back, turbulent turquoise eyes shining even in the dim afterschool lighting, his face a mixture of embarrassment fear awkwardness hope-

Sora rushed forward, and, almost simultaneously, Riku did the same.

They met in the middle.

“Sora, I'm so sorry, I didn't know-” Riku stammered. He wrapped his arms around himself, almost like a self inflicted hug, and Sora could see he was on the edge of apologizing himself into a hole.

Sora threw back his head and laughed.

“Why are you apologizing?” He stood up on his tip toes, grabbing Riku’s face. “I love you too, you big doofus.”

Riku gaped.

“What?”

“I. Love. You. Too.” Sora grinned as he spelled it out, the words feeling so right in his mouth, so true. He watched as those gorgeous eyes melted from anxiety to understanding. Riku shyly returned his smile, and then a full blown beam, and then he was chuckling as he scooped up Sora, lifting him off the ground.

“Why didn't you say anything?”

“I thought _you_ would say something!” He laughed again. Either at the ludacrisity of it all or because he was drunk on the feeling of being in Riku’s arms.

Riku snorted.

“Relying on _me_ to be the communicator? Please.”

Sora laughed, one more time. He never wanted to stop, the joy that bubbled up and refused to be quieted because Riku _returned his feelings_. He pressed their foreheads together. Reaching around his face, he snatched one of those beautiful silver locks that he’d been in love with since he was a kid, rubbing the texture back and forth through his fingers.

It was simply magical, to do it now and know that Riku felt the same way he did.

“Sora?” Riku asked. Their mouths were only a breath apart, so he felt the question as much as he heard it, the soft hesitance tied together with sweet affection. Sora hummed, and fiddled with Riku’s hair some more.

“Mm?”

“Will you be my boyfriend?”

“At least invite me to dinner first,” Sora teased. Riku rolled his eyes.

“What a coincidence. I think we have one planned for this very evening.”

“Well then, that settles it.” He finally dropped his fidgeting, safe in the knowledge that he could now run his fingers through Riku’s hair anytime he liked. He pointed down the hallway. “To the chariot!”

“Minivan,” Riku corrected.

“Can I drive?"

“Absolutely not.” At the end of the hall, Ryu poked his head in. Behind him, Xion, and the entire team waited patiently. When they saw Sora in Riku’s arms, they all cheered. Ryu just scoffed. “I’d rather not have my headstone read ‘died by wingmanning’.” He peeked up at his brother. “Did we do good?”

“You're on thin ice,” he warned, brushing past with faux anger.

But as Riku carried him away, out of the hall and past the underclassmen, Sora leaned out and gave Xion a high five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wo-ah, we're halfway there.  
> This chapter is one I've been excited to publish for a while. Finally, halfway into this sorikai centric fic, we get some actual dating for the destiny kiddos. Put on your hard hats, because this is where the story takes its climactic swerve into complete and total rom-com territory. The upcoming chapters are the ones that I originally built this story around, the scenes that first caused me to begin this project. So here's to the official halfway point of this fic. Rest up traveler, there is still much ground to cover.  
> See y'all next week.


	10. Chapter 10

Riku really should have noticed something was wrong. All through rehearsal, Ryu was withdrawn and quiet, prone to snapping at anyone who made the mistake of trying to talk to him.

But in his defense, he was a little distracted by Sora, and the faint buzz still echoing through his head of “Boyfriend. He’s my _boyfriend_.”

And, juggling the weird, sad glances that Kairi kept giving when she thought the two of them weren't looking. When he idly ran a hand down Sora’s arm, tracing the contours, or when Sora sat himself directly in his lap, Kairi was there, making some kind of resigned, confused expression that Riku pretended not to know the meaning of.

And on top of all that, he still had to actually, you know, rehearse.

So he didn't even notice Ryu was upset until they got home in the evening, when he immediately rushed to his room and slammed the door. A few minutes later, loud bassy music started pounding at the walls.

Still, Riku figured it was none of his business.

He shrugged off his bag, hanging it on its designated hook, and collapsed onto his own bed. After the almost nonstop choreo, Aqua barking stage directions, and the confusing feelings that bubbled up when Kairi so much as glanced at him, the familiar space of his bedroom was blessedly, wonderfully, peaceful. Giving a yawn, he stretched. If he closed his eyes and tried not to listen to Ryu’s music bleeding through the drywall, he could almost pretend that the world was quiet. Riku flopped over, staring up at the ceiling, and just let himself soak in the stillness.

On the bedside table where he’d tossed it, his phone dinged.

Riku groaned, and fumbled for it. He squinted, regretting that he had already taken out his contacts as he was forced to hold the screen almost in front of his face to read the text.

**Bf!!!! : hey do you think somethings up with Kairi**

The little jolt of happiness from getting a message from Sora was quickly smothered by the actual content.

Contrary to popular opinion, Riku wasn't completely oblivious. In fact, before yesterday, if you’d asked him who Sora end up dating by the end of month, he would have honestly and wholeheartedly said that it would be the cute, intelligent new student with a constellation of scarlet freckles. The two of them had started with the most romantic meet-cute, fallen into a close friendship in the span of mere weeks, and it was clear that Kairi had a crush on him. (Riku couldn't blame her.)

The fact that things had worked out the way they had…. Well, Riku couldn't help but imagine how he would have felt if it had happened the other way. If Sora and Kairi had started going out and he was suddenly standing on uneven ground. Just the thought of it formed an uncomfortable knot in his heart.

God, he was so selfish, a monster, for not even having the decency to think about-

No. He forced himself to take a deep, measured breath, and tried to relax his scrunched shoulders. He reminded himself of the fluttering in his stomach he'd felt just this afternoon when Sora held his hand, the warmth that grew when his boyfriend smiled at him. Fixed those feelings in his head. _You're not selfish for wanting to be happy_ , he reminded himself.

After a few minutes to ground himself, he felt the cloud of dark thoughts pass. It was getting easier to do that, these days. One more even breath, and he felt ready to reply.

**Yeah. I think she’s upset. About us.**

**Bf!!!! : ????**

**Bf!!!! : Im gonna talk to her**

Riku smiled fondly, both from the misplaced optimism, and the complete lack of punctuation. Both of them were so Sora. He also tried his best (Okay, maybe best wasn't the word for it, but he made an attempt) to communicate with Kairi. After ten minutes of deliberation, he sent her a text.

**Are you okay? Me and Sora noticed that you seemed down during rehearsal. Is there anything we can do?**

Before he even had the opportunity to worry he’d said the wrong thing, she responded.

**Kairi : *shrug emoji***

**Did you just type “shrug emoji”?**

**Seriously, are you alright?**

**Kai?**

He waited, watching as an indicator that she was typing popped up, then disappeared, then popped up again, then disappeared. After ten minutes, no reply came. He bit his lip, trying to think. Though it wasn't easy, with the booming music still filled the air.

Speaking of seeming down during rehearsal…

Riku weighed his options. He could wait here and wait for Kairi to respond, then work on making her feel better, or, he could go next door and try to make Ryu feel better. It was clear his brain wasn't going to calm down until one of those issues was resolved.

With an apologetic glance at his phone, he slipped it into his pocket, making sure it wasn't on silent so he’d know as soon as she texted him back, and slipped out into the hall.

“Ryu?” He knocked on the door, trying not to shout, but almost yelling to be heard. After a few seconds, the music stopped, and Ryu spoke up.

“Not interested,” his brother's voice responded, filled with venom, And, barely hearable, a touch of sadness, choked up like he’d been crying.

“Are you sure?” You seem kind of…” He searched for the right words. “Bummed out.”

Those evidently weren't the right words, because there was a thump, and the door shook in it's frame, like Ryu had just thrown something at him but forgotten there was a wall in the way.

He tried again. “Sad?”

Another thump, but smaller, like Ryu had thrown a shoe, not a whole backpack.

Riku sighed.

“I’m not going to come in unless you say I can.” He slid to the floor, setting his back against the door. “But I’m going to sit here and keep you company. Is that okay?”

“Whatever.”

Riku sighed again, and settled in for a long wait.

It was almost ten whole minutes before Ryu gave in, and threw something at the doorknob, which twisted, and the door opened the barest amount. Riku peered in the crack.

Ryu’s room was a mess, but that wasn't anything unusual for him. While Riku was a strong believer in ‘A place for everything, and everything in its place’, Ryu tended to go for the classic chaotic-piles-of-laundry approach. So the room looking like a tornado had just run through it wasn't anything new. But the lights were off, and Ryu was lying facedown on his bed, half covered by a comforter. Somehow, he’d managed to make the tangled pile of blankets look angry instead of cozy.

“May I come in?”

“It's a free world,” Ryu responded, which was about as much of an invitation as he was going to get. Carefully, Riku started picking his way across the room.As he was just about to lay a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder, he realised what he hadn't seen through the gloom and the messiness.

Sheet music was scattered everywhere.

On the pillow, across the floor, clumsily shoved in drawers and corners. Sprinkled on every surface, the entire musical score for the show, like Ryu had torn out every page with a time signature and tossed them angrily in the air. Which, judging by his previous behavior, was exactly what had happened. Riku knelt, and set to work collecting all the discarded pages.

“Are you mad at me?” Ryu asked, his voice muffled by the pillow he was face-planted in. He didn't even acknowledge the sounds of Riku gathering up the papers, didn't so much as stir when they were set on his bedside table. Hesitantly, Riku sat on the corner of the bed.

“Why would I be?”

“For filming you?” Ryu muttered, still muted through feathers and fabric.

Ah.

“I'm mean, I'm a little upset,” When they had finally left the school yesterday, Riku had certainly given him an earful, berating him on the complete disrespect shown by ‘filming me talking about my crush? Really? That was your plan?’

Riku bit his lip. “But I can hardly complain. But that's not why I came down here. I came because I'm worried about you.” He patted Ryu on the back, who groaned and turned over, glaring up at him. There was the angsty teenage glare he knew and tolerated. “What’s up?”

Ryu mumbled something.

“What's that?” Riku tried to sound as patient as possible.

“I said I lied!” Ryu sat bolt upright. Now that he was in proper light, Riku could see his eyeliner was smudged with tears. Ryu scowled, and punched the pillow. “I didn't want you and Sora to start dating because of brotherly compassion or whatever.” He sighed, and hugged to his chest the very same pillow he had so angrily assaulted just seconds before. Riku felt a twinge of sympathy for the stuffing. “You don't get it. You're so flawless, at everything. You take up the whole stage, and everyone needs to comment on it, how you have perfect grades, how have perfect fashion, how you excel in theater.

Ryu shook his head.

“But when I do the same things it's, just ordinary. Riku did it already, what's the point? But I thought-” His voice cracked, and he swiped a hand across his eyes, smudging his eyeliner even more, this time into a dark racoon mask. “I thought this could be the one thing where I used that to my advantage. Riku would get a boyfriend, and everyone would fawn and our parents would have someone to interrogate and embarrass, and I could just... Slip by, when I did the same thing.” He punched the pillow again. “Not that all of that matters now.”

Slowly, Riku put the pieces together. Sora and Kairi gossiping in one of their earlier rehearsals. His brother’s odd fluster the last couple weeks. The few minutes before practice had started when Ryu had slipped away, fidgeting with his beanie and muttering to himself. He glanced at the stack of sheet music on the side table.

“Namine?”

“Yeah.” Ryu flopped back down, drawing the blankets around him as he scrunched into a tight, angry ball. “I asked her out,” he admitted.

“She turned you down?” Simply for the lack of better ideas, Riku lay down next to him, staring up at the ceiling as he talked, trying to keep his breath as even as possible, hoping Ryu would follow his example. Being all crumpled up like that definitely wasn't helping his stress.

“As if. No, she was really polite about the whole thing,” Slowly, Ryu started to unclench. He relaxed, and his breathing evenened. “Really sweet.” He shook his head, and even the traces of a fond smile pulled at the corners of his lips. It was quickly extinguished, but at least he wasn't a total inconsolable anymore. “But it just wasn't meant to be. She likes me as a friend, and besides,” He shrugged. “She doesn't like guys.”

“Oh. Ryu,” That he could at least almost relate to. Up until yesterday, the constant fear of Sora rejecting him, not out of rudeness, but just because he was straight, was a weighing anxiety. And if those fears had turned out to be true? He couldn't imagine. “I'm so sorry.”

“Why? It's not her fault. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault.” Ryu scowled. He dragged a hand through his hair, but stopped, and instead occupied himself with fiddling with the cuffs of his hoodie. Riku hummed his approval. Together, they sat in a peaceful quiet, the quiet Riku had been looking for. He let it soak in, and felt his mind’s turbulent thinking shrink away.

“Well, at least you can see where she’s coming from,” he pointed out, finally breaking the silence. “Girls.”

Which might not be his most eloquent statement ever, but Ryu understood. He cracked a smile, and rolled over to face him.

“God, yes. Girls.” Ryu agreed. He put out his hand for a fistbump. “Bi solidarity?”

Riku stared.

“What?”

“I mean, right?” His brother frowned, his eyebrows knitting together in that ‘Oh-god-did-I-do-something-wrong’ expression they both shared. “You're bi? Like me?”

“Ryu, I'm-” The words suddenly wouldn't let themselves be said. Had he ever said anything about it? Sure, everyone assumed, when he hit puberty and started wearing skirts and eyeliner, when he repeatedly won awards for roles in drama club, but he’d never said anything. Honestly, he’d never even thought about it. How many crushes had he even had?

Sora. Only Sora.

And-

Without his permission, a face flashed through his mind.

Auburn hair.

Sky blue eyes.

Freckles like a thousand little stars.

“Oh my god,” Riku stamered.

“Um, it's okay. It's chill? Everything is fine? Ah-” Ryu muttered a word that Riku was going to pretend he didn't hear, because he was having a crisis and his brother's idea of comfort was uncreative four letter usage.

Riku buried his face in his hands.

He thought about those freckles, the little sunbright dots he’d dedicated a whole lighting cue to. He thought about her laugh, her smile, her wit, the things that made him smile in return. How easy it had been to see it through Sora’s eyes and think they would end up together. He thought about how she’d started singing yesterday and he’d fallen out of his seat. The butterflies in his stomach whenever Sora was around, or at least he’d assumed it was because of Sora, but really, the three of them had been inseparable since January.

No wonder Ryu had put it together before he did. Had he been acting like a doofus all semester?

He thought about his phone, the typing indicator popping up again and again.

He thought about what he’d said to Sora yesterday.

_“Relying on_ me _to be the communicator? Please.”_

Riku shook off his brother's hand on his shoulder, and stood up.

“I have to go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, such a short chapter, but I feel like there's so much to talk about. Guess that's what I get for skipping a week, twice as much has happened since the last update.  
> So first off, as readers following this fic as it updates will know, there was a mostly unannounced week long hiatus for HSM. Apologies. (And to those of you reading this in the future, congrats on no longer living in 2020.) But I’m back!  
> The chapter got a little longer, and heavier, than I expected. Honestly, this was originally planned to be a quick little check in on Ryu, seeing where he was in his own little background story (since starting this AU, he’s quickly become one of my favorite characters to write). And our dreameater boi having a bi-sis was one of the aforementioned scenes that I originally started this story for. But this _is_ a sorikai fic after all. I felt like we needed some more time with the trio. Riku especially.  
> Something that I only touched upon briefly, but feel is relevant to mention in the notes; Fanfic is, more often than not, about finding those threads we relate to in our favorite characters, and pulling them more into the picture, and one I have always seen in Riku as a perfect example of that. Does this boy have depression? Yes. Has he gradually learned to work with it and live a healthy life? Also yes.  
> Similar to Xion being trans, it won't come up too much in this fic, only in scant references here and there, but I think it's important to say as the author. The lack of healthy, functioning characters who struggle with depression in media is something I have very strong feeling about, so if any of you want me to discuss it in more depth can drop me a comment, and I'd be happy to talk through my thoughts. But for now, I'll just say that this: HSM is a fluff fic, and while that does not erase the struggles of its characters identities, it is meant to be fun and lighthearted.  
> Aaaanyways, this chapter note is getting too long already. And we need to talk about the fact that we! Are! So! Close! To! Sorikai endgame! Next chapter, things will get FLUFFY. I'm so excited :)  
> So, (really this time), see yall next week.


	11. Chapter 11

**Kai?**

Kairi stared at the message for longer than she really should have, trying to ignore the nauseous giddiness she felt just from a simple nickname. Riku had called her Kai before, holding back laughs as she pelted Sora with jelly beans at lunch because of a pun, or the time they’d gotten into an hour long friendly argument on the best hallmark movie during rehearsal. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine him saying it, perfect lip glossed lips pursing as he spoke the K, followed by the soft vowels and a gentle smile. Like shortening her name was something artisanal that required special care.

Kairi planted her face directly in her pillow and groaned.

Yeah, she was officially hopeless.

But how exactly did she respond to a text from her best friend and tell him ‘I wish you’d asked me out instead. Or Sora had. It's confusing.’?

Kairi sighed, and flung the pillow away, instead pulling a blanket around herself and burrowing further into her Beanbag Throne of Confusing Feelings, which was currently doing its job wonderfully. Because she had absolutely no idea how she felt. She didn't know what it meant when she saw Sora and Riku exchanging a quick kiss and caught a sudden pang of “God, I wish that were me.” She didn't know why them announcing they were dating sent a shard of ice through her gut.

Okay, fine, she knew why.

She’d had a crush on both of them since the auditions.

“This is all your fault,” she accused the script on her dresser. If she hadn't danced with Sora, if she hadn't heard Riku sing, hadn't seen the looks on both of their faces when she let her stage fright slip away and her emotions bubble into a performance. If they hadn't shared pastries and blushes in a shadowy backstage.

The script did not look very remorseful, and just continued sitting there, inanimately.

She glanced down at her phone. Her thumb hovered over the keyboard, and a few messages of confession bounced around in her head. She even managed to write a few, before anxiously backspacing back to nothing. In the end, she clicked her phone off.

He was worried. They both were. She knew she hadn't exactly been her usual self today, in classes _or_ rehearsal, which was the real indicator that she was in a mood. If even throwing herself into musical work couldn’t shake her out of this funk, no wonder the boys had noticed. Maybe she should tell them something, even just to reassure-

Her phone started ringing, and that train of thought came to a screeching halt.

Sora’s grinning profile stared up at her from the screen. It was the photo he’d taken at the lodge when they’d exchanged numbers, in the dim party lights and with flecks of confetti in his hair as he smiled goofily at the camera. A chunk of the screen was covered by his thumb, and the whole frame was slightly askew.

He looked perfectly and completely adorable.

Kairi took a deep breath. And clicked ‘accept’.

“Hey, Sora.” She tried to sound as cheerful as possible, like she hadn't been having an emotions crisis over a stupid picture of his face a second ago.

“Hi, Kairi!” Sora sounded chipper as well. But, after months of friendship, she was pretty sure it would take the threat of mortal injury or something equally dire to even begin to knock his smile off.

“Look, if Riku said anything to you, don't worry about it, I-”

“I’m stuck in a tree.”

She was apparently wrong.

“What?” Kairi shot to her feet. Immediately, she realised that she couldn't actually help, and started pacing, clinging the phone to her ear because not hanging up was the only thing she could really do. “Sora, you got stuck in a tree, and your first instinct was to call me?”

“Open your window,” Sora told her. He still sounded unbothered by the whole thing, like getting trapped in arboreal prisons was just a mild inconvenience. In fact, there was almost a laugh in his voice. Confused, Kairi redirected her pacing to her room's only window, and threw back the curtains.

Outside, twenty feet off the ground, Sora grinned at her.

“Hi.”

Kairi couldn't do anything but gape. There, in the gnarled branches of the oak tree that leaned tipsily against the side of the house, Sora was clinging to a bough.

“Sora.” She locked eyes with him and deliberately spoke into her phone's mike. “I have several questions.”

“To be fair,” he said, as he wriggled and readjusted his position. “I was worried.”

“Do you normally climb two stories up a tree when you're worried about a friend?” she asked, only flinching a little inside with the word ‘friend’ (Because, really, her confused romantic feelings were no longer a priority). Across ten feet of open air, phone wedged under his face by a clenched shoulder because his hands were busy holding onto a branch for dear life, Sora somehow managed to shrug.

“It just happens sometimes,” he admitted.

“That,” Kairi unlatched the window and swung it open, leaning out. “Is perhaps the most worrying thing you've ever said.” She finally hung up the call, and tossed her phone on her bed, because she would need both hands for this. Leaning over the sill perhaps more than was necessarily safe, she stretched out her arms as far as she could. Sora was still far out of reach. “You're going to have to climb the rest of the way.”

“Um.” Through some creative squirming, Sora managed to fanangle his phone from his shoulder and into his clenched teeth. No longer able to speak, he just shook the branch as example. It wobbled and bounced.

“Sora,” she asked. “Do you trust me?”

He nodded.

Well, that was more confident than she felt.

“I won't let you fall.”

Slowly, almost agonizingly slowly, Sora started moving towards her, hand over hand and hanging upside down, like an adorable sloth. Except Kairi’s heart hadn't been in her throat when she watched videos of sloths making their way through the jungle, and every time _this_ sloth even so much as wobbled, her heart made a valiant attempt to jump straight out of her chest.

He was almost to her outstretched hands when it happened.

It happened so fast it was less cause and effect and more a single moment, bleeding straight from Sora, almost safe and in her grasp, to Sora, falling.

He’d looked up at her, and, seeing her, so close and within reach, he'd smiled.

The simple action of raising his head to look her in the eye upset his balance, and, instead of keeping his gaze locked on the task at hand, picking out sturdy looking pieces of bark to use as hand holds, he blindly felt his way along to the next grip. And it broke.

He fell.

Kairi nearly launched herself out of the window, her hands grabbing for anything, any scrap of Sora, he couldn't fall, she wouldn't let him, she didn't even get to tell him-

She caught him by the wrists. Almost folded in half over the sill, she had him. His hands locked in hers. She stared down at him, into those perfect blue eyes that stared back at her, the only thing keeping him from falling.

Despite the literal gravity of the situation, Sora had the nerve to _smile_.

“Thanks for catching me.” He laughed, and Kairi almost dropped him right there, one part because she had nearly screamed as she watched her crush plummet past her, and here he was, _laughing_. And one part because his beautiful laugh was still the most startling, cute, and gorgeous laugh in the entire universe, and she would never stop being mesmerized by it.

Kairi gave herself a good shake, tightened her grip on him, and started working to pull him through the window. Sora stopped laughing, though he didn't lose the easy grin, and did his best to help as she lifted him, climbing up the wall. Together, between two of them working together with whispered directions and some muffled cursing (mostly on Kairi’s part), she managed to drag him through the window and onto solid ground.

Sora flomped on the floor, still smiling up at her. Tiredly, he gave a shaky thumbs up.

“Wow. Thanks for not dropping me. I know I’m not exactly light.”

“I ever tell you how I got that PE credit?” Now that she was no longer worried about dropping Sora to certain injury, she couldn't resist the urge to show off a little. She flexed, displaying the arm muscles she was so proud of. “Weight lifting. Though I didn't think I’d be putting it to use in Olympic level frie-” She couldn't say it. “Sora lifting,” she finished awkwardly.

He looked adorably dumbstruck.

“Well that settles it. If I wasn't before, now I'm definitely in lo-”

“Kairi?” Her father’s footsteps sounded on the stairs, and a knock came through the door.

In a blind panic, Kairi grabbed the first thing she saw (Her beanbag chair) and threw it over the thing that her father would be decidedly confused to see lying on the floor (Sora). He only gave a faint spluttering protest before going completely silent, because beanbag chairs don't talk. Making absolutely sure Sora was hidden, she cautiously opened the door.

Her dad was standing there, hand still raised to knock a second time. He looked oddly not suspicious of the loud thumping noises that came from dragging a person in through your window, and more politely befuddled, which was just how he usually looked. Kairi still tried to fill as much of the doorway as possible, affording him no glance into her room.

“Kairi?” he asked again. She rushed to cut him off.

“Dad, everything's fine.”

“Good?” His eyebrows quirked. “There's a young man downstairs to see you.”

“No, there's no-” she insisted. Then, the words her father had said actually registered. Groaning, she forgot all about Operation Block The Door and gently banged her head into the doorframe. Why did her boys have to individually scheme to come to her house? A small, hopeful answer grew in her chest. She quickly squashed it. No use getting her hopes up. “Right. Of course he’s here.”

“I can tell him to go away,” her father offered. Kairi shook her head.

“No, we’re uh- working on a project together.” She stepped out of the room, being very careful to shut the door quickly behind her, and followed her father down the stairs.

In the foyer, Riku was standing, looking slightly aghast at the fact that her house _had_ a foyer. His silver hair was stuck flat to his head with sweat, he obviously hadn't bothered to check his makeup before leaving, and he was out of breath. Still, Kairi let herself feel the jolt of lightning she felt whenever she saw his handsome face. He was beautiful.

“Riku…” She meant to say something intelligent, something alluring, but what came out of her mouth was: “Did you run here?”

Riku glanced down at his disheveled appearance, as if just noticing that his clothes were rumpled and smudged.

“Um, yes. Look, that's not important. Kairi, I need to tell you-”

“Here, come upstairs. We need to talk about the project.”

“The..?” Kairi ushered him up the stairs, and made a very pointed nod at her father, who was standing right there. Riku caught on. “Right. The _project_. For, um, Mx. Cloud’s class. Which they definitely assigned.”

“I thought you were an actor,” she hissed at him as she forcefully escorted him upstairs.

“I never said I was good at improv,” Riku fired back, as she led him into her room. He looked worried, all tense and knotted in the way that meant he had something on his mind, and seemed to busy himself with taking in this mysterious new environment, her bedroom. Kairi knocked her shoulder against his, trying to shake him out of it.

“Okay, now you can tell me.”

“Huh?” He tore his gaze away from looking around her room. Finally, for the first time since he’d arrived, he looked her in the eyes. Those wonderful, indescribable, aquamarine eyes. He started fidgeting with his hair. “It's nothing. Maybe I should just…” He started to move for the door.

“Riku.” Kairi reached out and took his hand, intertwining their fingers. Riku stopped. Looked down, to their joined palms. Looked her in the eye again.

“Kairi, I'm bi.”

Oh. That wasn't what she was expecting. Inside of her, the small hopeful flame flickered, and blew itself out. Still, Riku was looking at her, his face knotted with more emotions than she could count, and she had to say something, even as that warm feeling in her gut burned out.

“Congratulations?”

Riku threw his free hand in the air in exasperation.

“No, you don't- I-” He took a deep breath. “Kairi. I want to kiss you.”

_Oh._

The embers of that fire flared up, the last flickering sparks reigniting, growing into an inferno, the heat sweeping through her as his words echoed in her head, his gorgeous eyes locked on hers, and she had to do something, had to let this warmth out before she totally burned up.

She kissed him. She stood up on her tip toes and kissed him, right on his pretty, lip glossed, lips.

Riku went stock still. His arms froze at his sides, and Kairi worried for a second that he’d forgotten to breathe.

But then he exhaled, a soft sigh blowing out the corners of his mouth, and kissed her back. His chin dipped down, and his hair fell down and tickled her cheeks, as he kissed her and she kissed him.

“You guys!” A gleeful voice spoke up behind them.

“Sora!” Riku’s eyes snapped open, and he jumped away from her like she was a live wire, his eyes wide as he watched his boyfriend pop up from behind a beanbag chair. He didn't stop holding her hand though. And Kairi wasn't letting go anytime soon. Possibly ever.

“Riku.” Sora pouted as he stood up, and came over to them. Like it was choreographed, he slid his hands into their two free ones, forming a circle that felt just so right. He dramatically stuck out his lip. “You stole my thunder. I was going to sing a song or something.” And, again, in a way that was almost unnaturally natural, they all sank to the floor, still holding hands.

“I-” Riku’s mouth opened and closed a few times before any sound came out. In the end, he could just squeak. “ _You too?_ ”

“Wait, sorry guys, let me catch up.” Kairi shook her head, processing Riku’s hand in her left and Sora’s in her right. She was half convinced this was a dream. But the warmth from the two of them, the weight of their fingers in hers… This was real. “It's mutual with _both_ of you?”

“Well, I feel like that’s obvious,” Sora joked. Riku and Kairi whirled to give him a piercing, exasperated glare. He almost choked. “Wait, you guys didn't know?”

“Oh, you only realized you liked me yesterday, don't act so high and mighty on us,” Riku sassed. Sora opened his mouth to protest.

“That,” He thought for a second. “Is extremely fair.”

Kairi groaned.

“This is all,” She wanted to bury her head in her hands, but they were otherwise occupied. She settled for flopping into Riku’s lap. “So complicated.”

“Why does it need to be?” Sora shrugged, and scooted over to sit closer to the both of them, curling up between Riku and Kairi. “I really like you two. And that’s all I need to know.”

“Can we even do this?” Riku asked, almost to himself. But they both heard it, and it was completely silent for a minute as each of them grappled with their own thoughts. Kairi was the first to speak up.

“I don't know.” She squeezed the boys’ hands. “But I want to try.”

“Me too,” Sora agreed.

Riku looked at the two of them, cuddled in his lap, and smiled.

“Okay. Me three.”

Sora let out a whoop.

“I can't wait to brag about my two amazing partners to everyone.”

“Um.” Kairi didn't want to sit up, but she did, so she could look at the two of them as she talked. A faint blush colored her cheeks. “Is it okay if we… wait?” She chewed on her lip. “I don’t know how to say I’m dating two guys without sounding…”

“Oh, Kairi.” Sora squeezed her hand, and leaned to reassure her. Before he could say any more though, Riku spoke up.

“I’m right there too.” He peered at his two partners, a shy smile on his face. “I just figured this out. I don't know if I want to go sharing it to the whole world just yet.”

Sora thought on that for a second.

“Okay.”

“Really?” Kairi asked. Sora shook himself, and gave them another one of his signature smiles.

“Definitely. It's just so I can talk about you. But if you two aren't ready- ack!” The rest of his words got cut off as Riku and Kairi crushed him with a hug. At this point, they were less three separate people and more an amorphous blob of snuggles. Still though, Sora managed to speak up “Um. I never got my kiss.”

Kairi shot Riku a smile.

“Well, we’ll have to fix that won't we?”

“Definitely,” he agreed. Together, the both leaned in to plant a smooch on their boyfriends lips.

They met in the middle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have obtained Sorikai. I repeat, we have obtained Sorikai. This is not a drill.  
> Woo, it only took us eleven chapters, twelve weeks, and thirty thousand words, but at last, this fic does what it says on the tin. I want to thank all of you who read and kudosed and commented, you guys are the reason we got this far. Seriously, the support for this fic has been amazing, and I'm honored that I, a crazy person, got up on a stool and shouted "Hey, what if Kingdom Hearts in High School Musical?" and some people said, "Yeah, that sounds reasonable." It blows me away.  
> Anyway, the sharp eyed of you may have noticed that this fic still has six chapters left in it, and we've already gotten the endgame couple. What more could those six chapters possibly need to say? Well, we still have a musical to put on. And. well, I want so more fluff with these three.  
> So, on Monday, we return to more snuggles and singing as the destiny kiddos figure out their new relationship. See y'all next week.


	12. Chapter 12

They were all packed. He and Riku had their meds, there was a spare case of contacts and solution in the glovebox, and Kairi’d taken the time to craft what she called “The perfect date night playlist. After a whole week of stolen glances, covert hand holding, and dancing around questions from their friends, they were all more than ready to finally have a proper, official date, just the three of them. Sora tossed the last bag in (spare changes of clothes for them all, plus a beach ball just for fun) and closed the trunk.

“What did you tell your parents?” Roxas asked. His teammate was helping him load the car after today's practice, Riku and Kairi having dashed inside after parking to touch up their makeup.

“That you're each staying over at Riku’s house,” Ventus was sitting on the hood, swinging his legs, and most definitely not helping. “But then he tells his parents that _he’s_ staying at Kairi’s house, and so on, until you create an endless loop of planning confusion and-”

“Ven,” Sora cut him off before he could even finish his teen-movie scheme. “We’re eighteen. We just told them we were going camping for a night.” Mom had practically applauded when he said he wasn’t going to be home till morning. Tina had just rolled her eyes at her wife’s enthusiasm and told him to be safe, which wasn't necessary, but Sora was pretty sure she was obligated to say it. “By the way, where's Vanitas?” he asked, finally noticing the lack of dark-dyed snark trailing Ventus’s words. Ven shrugged.

“Well, you guys are taking the van, Ryu needed a ride home.”

“But doesn't that mean you don't have a way home?” Vanitas’s motorcycle barely had room for two, much less three passengers. And while Riku was the only one of them with a car, it was hardly worth taking if it meant his friend got stranded.

“Don't worry. Roxas is going to teach me how to skateboard!” Ventus grinned, like this was a fun afternoon activity, and not a death sentence. Roxas had offered him the exact same thing in their sophomore year.

“Good luck.” Sora joked. He came around to the front of the car so he could give Ventus a final pat on the shoulder. “The last he tried that on me, I dislocated all my knees.”

“Oh, Ven’s durable. He’ll bounce back,” Roxas assured, leaning on the wheel well.

Ventus glanced back and forth between the two of them, to Roxas’s casual but dangerous smile, to Sora’s finger-across-the-throat gesture.

“Do I need to worry?”

“Absolutely,” Sora said, at the exact same second Roxas said “No.”

“Sora!” Kairi saved him from having to explain that Roxas didn't have a great grasp on the fact that not everyone can do a kickflip. She and Riku came out the front doors, hand in hand, and she excitedly waved to the three of them.

Sora had to remind himself to breathe when he saw their eyeliner, sharp enough to kill a man, or their hair, Riku’s in an elegant plait down his back and Kairi sporting an adorable updo. The two of them were cute all the time, but seeing them all dressed up, to go on a date with _him_ -

Roxas elbowed him.

“Sora, need I remind you that subtlety isn't your specialty?”

“Huh?” he sighed, still lost as he watched the two of them approach, heels clicking on the flagstones. Roxas sighed, and crossed his arms.

“You can fool Ventus, probably because he's oblivious, but you can't fool me,” he whispered. “You're taking your boyfriend and Kairi to the island?" Sora finally caught on to what Roxas was trying to imply.

“I took you guys there one time!” They still hadn't told anyone, and Kairi and Riku wanted to keep it that way, at least until they got a handle on their own feelings. And as much as Sora hated not being able to point at them and say ‘Roxas, aren't my partners so _pretty_?’, it was their choice, and he was just happy to have them in his life the way he did.

“Yeah,” Roxas rolled his eyes. “And it wasn't fun, because we thought you were going to propose or something. It's kind of like a photo straight off a honeymoon brochure.”

“Wait, what?”

“It's the kind of place you can only take boyfriends. Or.” He looked over at Kairi, and, very deliberately, raised a single eyebrow. “Girlfriends?”

“She and him asked me not to tell anyone.” Sora flailed around, shushing anything else Roxas might try to say. “It’s kind of… on the down low?” He glanced over to make sure no one had noticed their whispering. Thankfully, Kairi and Riku were busy chatting about something with Ventus, but he still dragged Roxas a few more feet away from the car. “We’re trying to keep it secret. Just until we’re ready.”

“Dude,” he held up his hands in surrender. “I'm not going to tell anyone. I'm just glad you're happy.”

“Soraaaa.” Kairi called over again. He whipped around, to see her holding the door open for him, Riku sitting in the driver seat and waving him over. And Sora smiled, so wide his cheeks started to hurt. He turned back to Roxas.

“Yeah, Rox, I'm really happy.” Then he bounded off, back to the car. And, feeling bold, pressed a kiss to Kairi’s cheek, then Riku’s, as he took his seat between the two of them.

-

“I knew it! I knew you were a Shakespeare nerd!” Kairi held a triumphant finger in the air, like she was a private detective who had just deduced the culprit.

The island was just as Sora remembered it. The sinking sun sparkling off the waves with glimmers of gold. A brisk breeze tangling through his hair and sending it into a snarl that wouldn't come out even if he brushed it. Soft sand covering everything and anything. A canoe bobbing in the water by a simple mooring. The only difference was, this time, both of his best friends were here. From his place working to spread out and secure blankets in the shade of the lone tree, Sora watched fondly as Kairi and Riku sat together on the beach.

“Kairi.” He snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her closer so they were shoulder to shoulder. “I'm a bi theatre kid with a middle school emo phase and a flair for the dramatics. Why wouldn't I love Shakespeare?”

“Hm.” She rested her chin in the crook of his neck. “Because it's not good?"

“Kairi! How dare you.”

“I just don't get it. Like, I can buy that he was a good playwright in his day, but seriously? People are still going nuts for it four hundred years later, even though language has adapted and evolved to the point where his works are almost nonsensical.”

“If you think Shakespeare is nonsensical, you haven't seen good shakespeare. Next date, I am taking you two to a show. I think the west house is doing a production of Much Ado.”

“Also,” She pulled away, leaning back to get a good hard look at her boyfriend. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips “We are not just skating by the fact that you admitted you had an emo phase. I want pictures, Riku."

“Oh, it was great.” Sora spoke up, setting the last cushion in place and waving them to come sit with him. “Imagine Ryu, but _edgier_."

“It was one summer!” Riku protested, sinking his knees. Kairi plopped down beside him.

“Tell me more Sora. Did he have a choppy haircut?”

“The choppiest.” he nodded. “I think he did it himself, with some kitchen scissors. Oh, and these chunky platform heels that he could barely walk in.”

“Soraaaa.”

“Ohmigod,” Kairi laughed. Riku just huffed, and got revenge by tossing himself into his lap and knocking the breath out of him. Not that Sora was complaining. With Riku’s head cradled in his hands, he could play with that silky silver hair, rubbing his fingers over the texture of his braid.

“You two.” Riku complained, sounding hilariously petulant as he spoke up from his spot near the ground. “I told you, it was one summer. And I had a lot on my mind! And…” He paused, and looked up at Sora. “It wasn't that bad, was it?”

“Riku,” Sora took his hand, looking his boyfriend in the eye. “You were adorable. And you were a walking hot topic nightmare.”

“Oh ha ha. Wait till I tell Kairi about your-”

“Boys, boys,” Kairi laughed again. “I think you're both beautiful.”

Sora froze. He glanced down at Riku, wondering if he’d just felt the same jolt of electricity tracing it's way up his spine when their girlfriend said that. From the goofy, shy smile Riku had plastered on his face, he guessed he had. Sora cleared his throat.

“Can you say that again?” No one had ever called him beautiful before.

“Sora.” Her voice dropped the joking tone, and she snuggled up against his side, leaning in close so he could feel her breath on his skin as she said it. “You're beautiful.”

“Hm.” He fiddled more with the braid. “Riku too?”

“Of course.” Kairi chuckled. She reached down to brush the bangs out of Riku’s eyes, his hair pale against the bright crimson of his cheeks. “Have you seen him?”

His heart skipped a beat at her next words, as she wrapped them both in a hug and pulled the three of them into a tangling cuddle.

“My beautiful, beautiful boys.”

-

“Riku was right. You do have a lot of moles.” Kairi’s fingers danced on his shoulders, tracing the blemishes and dots scattered all over his back.

It was barely light enough still to see them. The sun had disappeared hours ago, and with only the glow of the moon and the stars and the glimmering of the city’s lights on the far-away shore, they were sitting on the beach, still in their suits after an evening swim, and admiring each other.

While Kairi idly highlighted the star map across his shoulders, Sora traced the pearly stripes on Riku’s hips and stomach.

“Those are from my growth spurt a few years ago.” Riku explained. Sora knew that, remembered vividly the year his best friend had grown like a beanstalk, all taller and bigger every time he saw him. Still, when Riku talked, he could rest his head against him and hear his voice echo.

“What’s this?” Kairi asked suddenly, tracing in the perfectly straight line that ran down the center of his chest, from his collarbone to the bottom of his ribs.  


“That’s my scar.” Sora flipped over, lying on his back so she could see it better. Riku similarly readjusted, turning so he could watch as Sora explained it to her. “From my heart surgery.”

“You had open heart surgery?”

“When I was a kid.”

“Come on Sora, tell her the story. It's so sweet when you tell it.” Riku settled back against him, curling their hands together as he relaxed against him, ear pressed close to listen, just like he’d been doing a moment before.

“It's not that interesting,” he protested, but Kairi was already doing the same thing on his other side, and with both his partners cuddled against him and waiting for a story, Sora took a deep breath, sorted his thoughts, and spoke, telling the story he’d been hearing since he was a little kid.

“When I was little they did an xray and found I had a cardiomegaly. An oversized heart,” he added for Kairi’s sake. “It was so bad I needed surgery to make sure it would pump blood properly and I wouldn't grow up with all kinds of health problems. My moms found out about it when they were looking for kids to adopt, and according to them, that's how they knew I was family. I literally had too big of a heart for my own good.” He smiled, remembering that day. “When I finally woke up after the surgery, the first thing I saw was these women I had never seen before sitting at my bedside, fast asleep. They'd been there for twenty four hours, just to stay with me. The very first thing they asked, once I was coherent, was if they could adopt me. And that's how I met my moms.”

“Oh my god,” Kairi breathed. “That’s so cute.”

“Nah.” Sora responded. “You know what's cuter?”

“What?” Riku murmured sleepily.

“These biceps.” He grinned, and squeezed her hand. “Hey Riku, did you know that Kairi lifts?”

“So you're telling me I'm dating two jocks?”

“Don't pretend you don't love it.”

“Would never dream of it.” He yawned. “It means I'll never have to move furniture again.”

-

They’d all drifted off to sleep, not even managing to make it back to the blankets, just cuddled together on the beach. It should have been the cold that woke him up. Or the light, as the sun slowly rose from the waves and illuminated everything in a soft glow.

Instead, it was singing.

“ _In you and I there's a new land._ ” Riku was sitting up, his hands still locked in theirs, as he watched the sunrise. “ _A sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah,_ ” he sang, his voice barely a whisper.

Sora recognized the song, of course. It was hard to forget the song that they’d been practicing and dancing choreo to for months. It was the final song in the show, where Katherine and Ross cement their newfound relationship with a waltz under the night sky. “ _Where fears and lies melt away._ ”

“ _Music will tie_ ,” he murmured back. Riku startled a bit, but smiled as Sora hummed along.

“ _What's left of me, what's left of me now._ ” Riku looked down to his other hand, clamped firmly in Kairi’s. She was still sleeping, snuggled against him, and his eyes were full of nothing but love as he sang. “ _I watch you, fast asleep. All I fear means nothing. In you and I there's a new land._ ”

“ _Angels in flight,_ ” Kairi slowly peeled her eyes open. Her voice was raspy, tinged with sleep and the salty air. But here, under the dawn and the sky and with waves lapping at his toes, Sora was quite sure it was the most amazing thing he’d ever heard.

“ _A sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah. Where fears and lies melt away._ ”

“ _What's left of me, what's left of me._ ” Sora sang with her, no music to guide him, picking the notes out of nothing, just the accompaniment of the morning surf and her perfect gorgeous voice.

“ _My heart's a battleground._ ” Riku blinked, and wiped some wetness from his eyes. Sora wasn't sure if it were from the sadness of the next line, or the happiness of the moment. He hoped it was happiness. He himself certainly had a few pinpricks of tears. “ _You show me how to see. That nothing is whole-_ ” His voice cut off.

“ _And nothing is broken._ ” Kairi picked up the severed line. With her free hand, she cupped Riku’s cheek, and wiped away the dampness on his cheek. The two of them stared into each other's eyes. Together, they sang the next line.

“ _In you and I there's a new land._ ”

“ _A sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah._ ” He didn't feel like he was intruding on their moment, just watched, as some kind of unspoken conversation happened between Riku and Kairi, her brilliant blue eyes locked on his aqua green ones.

“ _What's left of me, what's left of me now._ ”

“ _My fears,_ ” he sang.

“ _My lies,_ ” she added.

Their voices mingled together for the final lyric.

“ _Melt away._ ”

The last note faded. Both of them took a deep, shaky breath. Riku reached forward, and leaned his forehead against hers, the same way Sora had when they got together. Kairi gripped his hand tighter, and turned to Sora.

“Okay,” She smiled, brighter than the dawn on the horizon. “Let’s tell the whole world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that this chapter went up later than my usual updates. But it's still Monday (At least where I am) so I still count it a win.  
> I was noticing while I edited this that this chapter is divided into four parts, and they literally and thematically follow a Noon/Dusk/Midnight/Dawn pattern. I wish I could claim it was on purpose, but in all honestly it just happened accidentally. There were four scenes I wanted to write, and they just happened to take place equally spaced over a twelve hour period. And speaking of those scenes: This chapter is sorikai cuddles. That's it. It took us this long to get here, so you better believe I'm pausing the plot for a moment to just write some fluff. Next week, we'll get back to seeing some other characters (What? There are characters other than Sora and Riku and Kairi? Yeah, I was shocked too.)  
> But, until then, have some fluff, and I'll see y'all next week.


	13. Chapter 13

There was, in fact, a very big difference between saying he wanted to be out, and actually telling the whole world, Riku discovered.

As in, none of them had any idea how to go about doing it.

“I don't know,” Sora explained, taking a sip of his cocoa. After their night on the island, a quiet morning over pastries and coffee was the perfect ending for the date, and also conveniently turned into a planning council after his and Kairi’s decision. “I just found the word pansexual and decided I liked it. I didn't tell my moms or anything, it just came up one day in conversation.” He shrugged. “And then they knew.”

“Riku, what about you?” Kairi asked. She idly stirred her latte (Well, _his_ latte, but Kairi had been quick to impose a girlfriend tax on anything her boys ordered, and was busy sampling her way through everything on the table.)

“I never said anything. Everyone assumed…” He trailed off, taking a bite of his croissant to buy himself time. Even after coming to terms with his feelings for Sora and Kairi, no, especially after that, saying what everyone had presumed felt disingenuous. “But not that I was bi,” he finally concluded. He swiped his latte back from Kairi. “And you?”

She made a face.

“Gosh, I need a name for it? Can't I just say that I like you guys?”

“Absolutely.” Sora knocked his shoulder against hers, and gave her that signature grin of his, the one that said ‘It'll be alright. I'm just happy to be here”, his fingers tapping a contented, almost Morse-like rhythm on the top of her thigh. Kairi hummed, and leaned against him, somehow managing to not spill a single drop of her coffee. Just watching the two of them, Riku felt a soft smile tugging at his lips.

“Great.” It was hard to sound moody and theatrical when his partners insisted on being so darn adorable, but Riku gave it his best shot. He sighed and sprawled melodramatically over the tabletop. “We have no idea how to tell anyone."

“Can't we just…” Sora bit his lip. “Say it?”

“Doesn't that usually go poorly?” Riku fired back.

Okay, maybe that wasn't fair. No one’d had a problem with him and Sora dating, but still. The idea of announcing it to strangers seemed like it would end badly, no matter how accepting his schoolmates had been.

“No, I think Sora has a point.” Kairi actually set down her coffee so she could reach over and take his hand, which Riku personally thought was the most romantic gesture he’d ever seen. She rubbed her thumb around the contours of his knuckles, tracing circles. “When anyone else starts dating, they just say ‘Hey, here's my partner.’ I mean, that's what you guys did, right? Maybe we just say we’re dating.”

“But then people will ask questions. And expect us to _answer_ them,” he tried, but it sounded like a weak, whiny argument even to him. His doubts hadn't vanished, but every second he stared at the beaming sunshine of their smiles, they retreated further.

"Okay, how about this?” Sora offered, his fingers slowly tangling into Riku’s hair, as had now become a common fidget of his. Riku certainly couldn't complain. “We start small, see how that goes.”

“Okay,” Riku agreed. “How about-” His sentence was cut off as the bell above the cafe door chimed with a _ding!_ Naturally, he looked over Sora and Kairi’s shoulders to the source of the noise. “Namine?”

“You want to tell Namine?”

“No, she just walked in,” he explained. The words had barely left his mouth before Sora turned around and waved at their music director.

“Hi, Nam!”

“Hey Sora!” she called back, letting go of the strap of her white satchel to give a friendly wave as she stepped in line for the counter.

“I didn't know Nam drank coffee,” Kairi remarked, as the three of them, apparently glad for the excuse to take a break from their mild crisis, watched Namine place, pay for, and collect, her order. “I kinda took her for a tea person.”

“I don't know if iced coffee counts.”

“Wait, but coffee’s _in_ the name,” Sora protested, earning a huff from Riku. Not that he had anything against iced drinks, but in his opinion, anything less than hot enough to scald your tongue was just trying to be something it wasn't, and shouldn't even be-

“How are you guys?” Somewhere in between Namine accepting her cup from the barista and his deep internal monologue, she’d made her way over to their table, and brought an end to his rant on caffeinated beverages before it could even start.

Riku didn't know what possessed him to say it. In his head, he gave a polite greeting, maybe offered her a seat at their table. She’d say something nice in return, maybe sit down, and small talk would commence from there. It would be a run of the mill social interaction. Instead, he opened his mouth, and the words he said were:

“We’re dating.”

Sora and Kairi swiveled in their seats to stare at him.

“Oh.” Namine didn't seem to know how to respond to that, besides slightly rearranging her grip on her cup and shifting her weight to her other foot. “Congratulations?”

Cleary, she wasn't understanding.

“The three of us.”

“Yes, I got that.” Again, she barely reacted, just a confused nod, like he was explaining basic addition to an astrophysicist. Behind him, he heard Kairi let out a breath he hadn't realized she’d been holding.

“Well, that worked. So, we just get Riku to randomly blurt it out to everyone we meet?”

“Sorry, it just…” Riku ducked his head, half tempted to disappear into his mug. “Slipped out?

“Hey, whatever works.” Sora patted the back of his hand, a little _tap-tap-tap_ of reassurance. That at least, plus the fact that Namine didn't look judgmental (quite the opposite actually), was enough to keep him from completely dissolving into jelly.

“Either you guys are doing a weird social experiment,” Namine pulled over a chair from the nearby empty table and took a seat. “Or I am not understanding."

"About a week ago,” Riku started. He gestured to him and Sora, the latter of whom was still resting his hand on top of his, almost gleeful in the open display of affection. “We started dating.”

“And then,” Sora jumped in, drawing a triangle midair, connecting him, Riku, and Kairi. “After some soul searching, _we_ started dating.”

“People know about us.”

“But not about _us_.” He mimed the triangle again. It sounded kind of dumb saying it like that, but Namine seemed to follow the logic. At least, she wasn't looking at them like they were crazy.

“And we’re trying to figure out how to say it.” Kairi finished. Skillfully, because apparently one of them had to be reasonably coherent. God, he loved her so much.

Namine’s eyes lit up with understanding.

“You're trying to come out!”

“Yup,” Kairi nodded. Namine smiled back at the redhead, and took a long sip of her coffee, swirling the straw through the ice with a pleasant clink.

However, halfway through, she choked.

“Wait,” Sora let go of his hand to dive in with a napkin, wiping up the spill caused by Namine squeezing her to-go cup so hard the lid popped off. _Now_ she was looking at them like they were crazy. “Am I the first person you guys told?”

“Yeah,” Sora answered, casually chucking the used napkin in the trash can (that was halfway across the room). He grinned at Namine, who was starting to look flustered, her eyes reddening as she swallowed. Hesitantly, Sora dropped his smile, and moved over to wrap his arms around her.

“Um,” She swiped the palm of her hand across her face. “Thank you. All of you. It's a lot.”

“Just seemed right.” Sora loosened his koala hug, moving back to his seat. Immediately, Kairi wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer so their boyfriend didn't have to spend more than a few seconds without an embrace. He was starting to look as misty eyed as Namine. “I'm pretty sure you're the reason we’re taking this step.”

“What?” She had thankfully set down her cup, so there wasn't another explosion of coffee spillage, but she still wasn't looking any less emotionally shocked.

“Your song,” Kairi explained. “The last one of the show, about sanctuary with the one you love, fears melting away?”

“It- It really struck us both.” Riku scooted over to join the Hug Sora Initiative, but kept his eyes locked on Namine. As she processed their words, the tender expression changed, replaced with one of wistfulness for half a second. Then, pure determination.

“I am going to need more coffee,” she declared, snapping a hair tie off her wrist. While she pulled her hair back, securing it in a ponytail, Kairi nudged Riku’s latte in front of her. In one fluid motion, Namine downed the whole thing, cracked her knuckles, and pulled out a laptop from seemingly nowhere.

“I am going to write you a song,” she announced. “A romantic, syrupy, Broadway ready coming out song. It **will** be the stuff of fairy tales.”

It did not sound negotiable.

-

“Listen to this.”

They’d been at this for hours. Though, saying ‘they’ might be being generous. Really, it was more the three of them, watching as Namine fiddled with a program on her computer with one hand, and scribbled lyrics in a notebook with the other. Every so often, she would ask for feedback on a melody, or their thoughts on a verse. Mostly, they got to talk about the other two, and Namine would snatch sentences, thoughts, declarations of love, from the empty air, and weave their words into poetry.

It was almost terrifying, watching this over caffeinated college student distill their new romance into a few verses.

It was also beautiful.

“It sounds perfect,” Kairi nodded, tapping along to the beat of the digital piano. Namine absolutely beamed.

“It's still a little rough around the edges. I’ll have to take it home, try it out on my actual keyboard, rework some stuff. But for now,” She ended the program, and began packing her laptop away, still glowing with that energized joy. “I'm glad you guys like it.”

“Thank you, Namine.” Riku felt like he couldn't say it enough. “For all of this.”

She laughed at that, tucking her pen behind her ear as she began the long process of clearing their half dozen empty cups.

“It's every artists' dream for her work to help some lonely gays find each other.” She handed the disposables to Sora, who gleefully took up the task of hurling them into the trash. With each consecutive perfect shot, he added a fancy jump or maneuver. Kairi and Riku clapped. After the table was clear, Namine rummaged for a wallet, but Riku stopped her.

“Trust me. You paid your tab.”

She smiled, a bit hesitant, but did stuff the money back in her satchel.

“In all honesty, I should be thanking you.” Almost melancholy, she touched the pen still stowed behind her ear. “I'm glad I made something that… made a difference. And some of us,” She shook her head, like she was clearing out bad memories. “We don't always get to control how the world finds out.

It was more Sora’s thing, but Riku couldn't help himself. He pulled her into a hug.

“You're amazing, Namine.”

She hugged him back.

Then, with the soft chime of the bell over the door, she left, humming their new song.

They all jumped as each of their phones dinged with an alert.

“That must be the performance date.” Kairi reached for her pocket. “Aqua said something about finalizing it today.”

“Awesome!” Sora grinned as he dug his phone out. All it took though was one glance at the screen for his face to fall.

“That’s…” Riku almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. Illuminated in the professional box of a notification, his phone cheerily displayed their newest show update.

The performance was set for the same day as the first lacrosse game of the season.

And Kairi’s debate competition.

“Disastrous,” she finished his sentence for him, similarly staring down at her own phone, her grimace growing larger with every second.

“Hang on.” It wasn't a good look on Sora, struggling for a smile. His thumbs tapped on the screen, and Riku’s phone dinged with a second notification.

**Sora added Gf!!!!, Bf <3, HeWasASk8erBoi, (Xi/Her)on, Waywordly, ThePrettierVentus, and ImMe to the groupchat**

Well. That wasn't what he was expecting.

**Sora: So youre probably wondering why I brought you all here**

**Sora: Sorry, I just always want to say that**

**Sora: In actuality:**

**Sora: 911**

**Bf <3: What.**

**Gf!!!!: Sora sweetie, why exactly was a groupchat your first instinct?**

**ThePrettierVentus: Sweetie???????**

**(Xi/Her)on: I KNEW IT.**

**ImMe: SORA, I /just/ got you that boyfriend, if you're broken up ALREADY**

**Bf <3: Okay, this might take a while to explain.**

**Gf!!!!: Basically, 1) Sora+Riku+Me are dating, 2) We need some help. 3) You guys are going to help, apparently.**

**HeWasASk8erBoi: Wil we be doin anything illegal?**

**Sora: I mean probably not**

**Bf <3: Oh most certainly.**

**Sora: Riku!**

**HeWasASk8erBoi: Xi we promsed**

**(Xi/Her)on: Thats right!**

**(Xi/Her)on: Sorry guys, we have to ask our dads**

**Waywordly: For permission?**

**(Xi/Her)on: No. If they want to help**

**(Xi/Her)on: I think this operation might need to become a little bit bigger**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. 2020, amirite?  
> So, first of all, I'm so sorry there was such a big unannounced gap between last chapter and this one. I'd love to say I was working on some other project or posting some other work, but in actuality... I just didn't write for a month. Mental health and general life caught up to me, and my update schedule suffered for it. Again, I'm so sorry :( I promise you guys, this fic isn't abandoned, HSM isn't going anywhere. This story just had to take a backseat as I handled other things. Thank y'all so much for sticking with me.   
> With that being said, allow me to officially set some expectations for the next update. While I will be attempting to get back on my pre-October writing schedule, I would much rather this be sure this fic is the best work I can put out (especially with the ending fast approaching), than sticking to weekly updates. So, these last four chapters will likely posted on less-than-clockwork. I'm aiming to post a chapter once every two weeks, still mostly sticking to mondays, but not worrying myself to much if I happen to post on a Tuesday or Sunday. This will allow me some stretching room to get back into a groove, as well as allowing me more time to make sure everything I'm posting has the polish this fic deserves.   
> HSM has really been a highlight of this less than amazing year, and working on it truly has been a delight, so I'm _very_ excited for you guys to see this final act. So much gratitude to this story, and to you guys, for being so amazing. Next chapter, little a chapter delivering on the second to last tag of this fic. As a treat.  
> And, while it may not be next week, I look forward to seeing y'all.


	14. Chapter 14

You guys didn't have to come,” Roxas reminded them, for what felt like the dozenth time. It wasn't that he didn't like Riku and Kairi; they were Sora’s friends, so if they asked him to help bury a body he would show up shovel in hand. And Sora knew a few members of The Thirteen, so he wouldn't have a problem with any of his family’s… eccentricities. Really, he had nothing to worry about. This couldn't possibly go wrong. Much.

“And miss the chance to catch up with your dads?” Sora grinned, crossing his hands behind his head. Kairi and Riku had to duck to avoid getting beaned in the face by his elbows as he leaned back. But somehow, no annoyance flashed across their faces, just warmth, just casual love. “Never.”

“Not my dads,” he grumbled. Xion scoffed, and gave him a friendly shove.

“No, they definitely are.”

And, well, he couldn't really argue with that. He’d spent more time at the dorm house than anywhere else (except maybe the ice cream parlor) since he’d first picked up a skateboard, countless afternoons spent crashing on the couch, countless hours sitting on the kitchen counters, and countless sunsets shared between the four of them, when Lea would pick the lock to the rooftop door with a wink and a smirk, and Isa would make some dry quip about rulebreaking, ruffling his boyfriends hair with begrudging softness. Evenings of them all huddled together against the cold of the night air, hours after any last traces of the sun were gone, looking up at the night sky, and nodding whenever Isa took a breath from his rambling sermons on astronomy.

“Not my dads,” he said again, because it was tradition. Xion rolled her eyes.

“Hm, well I guess I’ll need to return that tie clip I bought-” Her sarcasm screeched to a halt when she caught sight of something at the end of the street; a wagging tail, sticking out from behind a trash bin. “Pluto!”

In between blinks, she was gone, halfway down the street. Riku, bless his lack of context, actually stopped dead to squint up at the sky.

“The planet?”

“Xion’s dog,” Roxas explained, lightly jogging to catch up. From behind the bins, Xion emerged, grinning almost as brightly as Sora, and almost as bouncy as the sandy-colored mutt romping at her feet.

“Did you steal any good leftovers from Cafe Gray?” She leaned down to pet the top of his head. Pluto barked in response, standing up on his hind legs to put his front paws on her chest, almost bowling her over. Thankfully, Xion had gotten enough elbow checks from rude skaters that she was able to keep her feet. “Yes you _did_. Who’s the goodest boy?”

He barked again. It was almost eerie sometimes, the way he seemed to know exactly when it was his turn to ‘speak’. Well, it would be eerie, if he didn't just use his conversation skills to demand more pets and lunch scraps.

“Oh yes he's the goodest boy.” Sora rushed over to be included in the dog petting, his partners not far behind.

“He doesn't have a collar,” Riku observed, crouching to give Pluto a few scritches. Pluto gave thanks by immediately drooling on his sleeve. Xion laughed.

“Yeah, he kinda does his own thing. But he’s always around campus, and he comes by the thirteenth to sleep and get bellyrubs, so he’s our dog.”

“But mostly Xion’s.”

“But mostly mine,” She agreed, standing and dusting gravel off her knees. “Hey Pluto,” Patting her knees once again, she put on her special the-world-is-so-exciting-and-you-are-a-dog voice. Pluto immediately perked up his ears. “Let's go home!”

Together, they took off tearing down the street, leaving Roxas and the new couple in the dust. Kairi smiled and linked arms with her boyfriends.

“The thirteenth?” she asked, as they strolled down the sidewalk after Xion and Pluto.

“Houseshare thirteen,” He twisted so they could see the patch on his jacket’s left shoulder, a silver **#13** , above a stylized star shape. Even over a year later, and seeing it still filled him with a burst of pride. “The whole gang lives there, so it's how we got our name. Hopefully, Xion and I can scrape together an acceptance here, and then we can move in.”

“You should see them at meets,” Sora enthused, flapping his hands as he spoke. “They all have competition jackets with a big thirteen across the back, in like, roman numerals, and individual patches for what order they joined in, so when they’re all together they look like a proper gang, and not just…”

“What?” Kairi asked. Roxas prayed to every deity he knew of and a few he made up on the spot that his best friend would have a filter for once in his life.

“Well, they’re kind of-” he began, but was cut off as Xion, now half a block ahead of them and just reaching the front lawn, yelled.

“DUCK!”

Kairi ducked. Riku ducked. Sora looked around, hoping to spot a duck.

The crossbow bolt missed him by a matter of inches.

Roxas glared, first at the two figures of the grass in front of The Thirteenth, then at the offending quarrel, which had shot straight past Sora and buried itself in their neighbor’s porch decorative gourd (Which was probably the worst news of all. They were already on thin ice with Mr. Ansem from the Circuit-Breaker-Incident a few weeks ago). Completing Sora’s unfinished sentence, he sighed.

“Complete and utter idiots.”

And with that being said, he took off marching down the street.

“Ha! Told ya’” A familiar surfer voice spoke from the green, though clearly not speaking to the bystanders he had almost skewered, instead to the blonde man beside him. “Pay up, roulette wheel.”

“Fine, fine.” If there was an accent more distinctive than Braig’s, it was Luxord’s faux-british one. Roxas had spent many an afternoon of poker trying to wrangle out of the guy where exactly in England he was from, but that line of questioning tended to end with Roxas losing the hand, and his money. He watched as the gambler produced a wallet, and passed some bills to Braig, who had not yet put down the crossbow. That cursed thing might just be their stupidest amazon purchase to date.

“Hey Braig. Luxord. Thanks for almost killing my best friend,” he said as way of greeting. Braig squinted, shielding his eyes (well, eye) to look down the pavement to Sora and crew, who were mostly recovered, and about to join the small crowd forming on the lawn.

“Well how ‘bout that. Guess they were in my bad periphery.” He shrugged, and turned to Luxord. “You should have told me there were onlookers.”

“They were right in front of what you were aiming at!” Luxord threw his hands in the air.

“Yeah well, you're the one who handed the half blind guy a crossbow.”

“You two, play nice,” Aeleus called from the porch where he and Dilan were sitting, with a pot of tea and one of those fancy vegetable platters Aeleus was so fond of making, apparently overseeing this whole debacle. “And Braig, you can't use that excuse every time you do something foolish.”

“I see neither of you stopped him,” Roxas challenged, crossing his arms and trying to do his best I’m-not-mad-just-disappointed glare, the one that Isa would make whenever the fire alarm went off. Dilan just raised a single eyebrow.

“We’re supervising.” It was hard to tell if he was being serious, as it almost always was, but Aeleus nodded in agreement, taking a sip of his tea. The two of them gave a wave to Riku, Kairi, and Sora, as the three of them walked up, still looking a little shaken.

“Braig’s looking supervillainous as ever I see,” Riku joked, as he handed back the bolt he’d retrieved, though there was just the faintest hint of warning in his voice, and his other hand was wrapped tightly around Sora’s.

Braig looked the irate drama kid up and down. And smothered a bark of laughter.

“How many times I gotta tell ya kid,” he tapped the dark patch over his right eye. “This is for strictly medical reasons.”

“The fact that you coordinate it with matching black outfits is just a perk,” Xion teased.

“Well sue me for trying to be fashionable,” he fired back, though there was no bite to it. Instead, he reached over to ruffle Xion’s hair, earning an outraged squeak. “Twerp.”

“Well, now I _have_ to meet the rest of the breakfast club.” Kairi took Riku’s other hand, and tugged her boyfriends towards the house. Roxas internally bit back a groan. But nonetheless, pulled out his key.

The door opened with its usual protests: a kick in the bottom hinge, a specific jiggle to the knob, and no small amount of force. And, also as usual, as soon as it was open, the sound of chaos came pouring out.

Sora jumped almost out of his skin, and clapped his hands to his ears.

“The kids are home!” At the white board, scrupulously drawing the calendar that no one would actually bother to follow, the upperclassman barely bothered to look up from his work.

“Even,” Roxas greeted as him and Xion kicked off their shoes, into the disorganized mountain of boots, kneepads, and helmets by the door. “Do you know where-”

“WHAT is that sound?” Sora interrupted. Roxas turned to look, and found his friend still frozen in the threshold, his partners protectively curled around his sides. He didn't look like was going to have an overload thankfully, just acclimating to the awful noise of screeching, banging, and early 2000s pop that was blaring from the living room.

“The final yowls of Schrodinger's cat as it discovers the vial of poison is actually a live cattle prod.” Even grumbled, still not glancing up from his all-important task. “Or that's the only logical conclusion I could come to.” Curiously, Sora wandered up to the doorway, and peeked in.

The racket was not unusual, especially not for a Sunday, where there was a single hour in between Demyx’s seminar on music theory, Lauriam’s workshop in the campus greenhouse, and Elrena’s internship at the electronics store. So Roxas was not surprised at all when he followed and saw the usual sight: The three of them jamming to Guitar Hero.

In all fairness, Lauriam was not actually a bad singer. Not great, but when he belted along to the radio, Roxas didn't actually want to tear his ears off, which was not something he could say of anyone else in the house. And Demyx actually knew how to play the guitar. And Elrena was well versed in the art of hitting things with a screwdriver, drumsticks couldn't be that different.

“It's one of the mysteries of the universe,” Xion remarked, as all of them crowded around the door to watch. “How three such talented people can sound so god awful when they are given plastic instruments.”

“If it was a mystery of the universe, we would be in awe at its wonder.” Xemnas idly flipped a page of his magazine. Their RA was somehow strong enough to exist in the same room as the cacophony, and was seated in his signature wingback chair, perusing the newest edition of one of his aeronautics journals. Ienzo was, evidently, not as willing to put up with the band, and was studying on the couch, a pair of noise cancelling headphones clamped firmly over his ears.

“I'm kind of in awe,” Sora whispered. “I’m scared of singing, and Riku says I’m _good_ at it.” True, but Roxas was still tempted to bring up his half-baked solos in the gym showers, just to see what shade of pink he’d turn. But they were on a mission. Xion went over to Xemnas, raising her voice to be heard over the music.

“Hey, do you know where Lea and Isa are?”

“Jupiter has eighty moons,” he replied, because Xemnas was allergic to being helpful.

“It's seventy nine!” an irate voice called back from the kitchen. Only one person would bother to correct astronomy facts from three rooms away. Xion grinned, and the five of them made their way down the hall, leaving Xemnas to his cryptic mutterings of 'Soon'.

“Lea’s burning pancakes,” Isa calmly informed them as they stepped into the space.

“I am not!” his boyfriend snapped back, twirling around a spatula as he spoke. The redheaded hothead was stationed at the stovetop, which did look suspiciously smoky. On the counter next to him sat bloodstains of batter and a still dripping bowl, as well as Isa, who perched as far away from the mess as he could be while still not using a chair. For not the first time, Roxas couldn't help but compare the bluenette to a persnickety housecat.

“Lea, those are black.”

“Only on one side,” he retorted, flipping over the newest saucer of batter and sliding it onto a plate, revealing that they were, indeed, somewhat raw on the other side. “They're still… edible.” Isa rolled his eyes. Finally, he noticed that it wasn't just the usual audience witnessing their domestic squabbles.

“Sora,” he gave a polite nod to the two boys. “Riku,” Seeing Kairi, however, he paused. “And, I'm sorry, I don't think we've met.”

“Kairi. I’ve heard all about the legendary thirteen.” She was grinning from ear to ear, taking in the whole scene: the smoke, the mess, the easy banter between the two men. With a single hop, she boosted herself up to sit beside Isa.

“Oh?” He raised a single eyebrow.

“Yeah. I heard that you helped raise a couple of scoundrels.”

“They get that from Lea.” Again, he spared a glance toward the plate of charred discs. “Though thankfully not his cooking skills.”

“Hey!” Lea beaned him between the eyes with a perfectly thrown tea towel, which just made Isa smirk harder. So instead, he deliberately ignored him, and turned to the remaining teens. “So, what brings you kids around?”

“We’re organizing an operation,” Xion explained, hesitantly nibbling on the edge of one of the less burned looking pancakes. “We need to get Sora and Kairi to the school by six on Thursday.”

“Complications?” Isa asked, leaning forward, his joking tone forgotten. If there was one thing The Thirteenth was dead serious about, it was schemes.

“Sora will be at a game at Bastion Charter, and Kairi’s debate meet is at the library.”

Isa’s brow furrowed, and he tugged a notebook out of his pocket and started scribbling. Lea turned off the burner with a _click!_ , and leaned back against the stove, thinking. Subtly, Xion spit out the pancake she’d been chewing.

“And we did the math. There's no way to get both of them from point A to point B in time. Not without _outrageously_ breaking the speed limit.”

From somewhere in the living room, there was a loud crash. And the sound of many people, rushing down the hallway.

In less than thirty seconds, every member of the house was crowding in the doorway.

“Did someone say breaking the law?” Elrena asked.

Roxas watched as Sora, Riku, and Kairi, all glanced at each other, and shared a kind of telepathic conversation. Questioning looks, silent evaluations, quiet nods. They took in the whole might of The Thirteen: a dozen bored and passionate students, with a wide assortment of totally useless skills between them, and the moral compass of a squirrel at a mall food court. Eventually, they came to an agreement, and Riku stepped forward, and cleared his throat.

“Yes.”

Everyone in the house exchanged their own soundless communication, but a decision was reached far quicker. Xemnas pushed himself to the front of the throng.

“You can count us in.”

-

To Sora, Riku, and Kairi, it was almost unnatural how quickly college students mustered, falling immediately into some semblance of a meeting structure. The messy countertop shifted to the dining room so they could all have a seat. Isa’s scrawled napkin map became a disposable tablecloth from under the sink, Even hunched over the table to work on drawing a concerningly precise town map. Somehow, a box of pizza had appeared, next to the plate burnt frisbees that Lea had made, which anyone with a lick of sense refused to touch. Sora, undeterred, described building layouts through a mouthful of pancake, making an unpleasant crunching sound as he chewed. Kairi silently hoped he wouldn't chip a tooth.

“Ven is good friends with our coach, he’ll get us the keys to the building if we ask him nicely. And then we can use this backdoor,”

“But even if we have complete access,” Ienzo mused, his headphones long gone, and his bangs falling so far into his face no one was sure he could even see. “That still leaves the little problem of getting you out. I doubt you can just leave in the middle of a game.”

Demyx however, hadn’t abandoned his guitar, merely swapped the controller for the real thing. He raked his hands across the strings, startling everyone.

“I have an idea,” he announced.

-

“This is your worst idea ever. I hate it.”

“But think about this Elrena,” He strummed another chord, then, apparently dissatisfied, adjusted a tuning knob. “They can't run away. Legally, I think.”

“That's not how law works.” Braig grumbled, though he looked far from unamused. In fact, he was practically cackling, his boots propped up on the table as he leaned back in his chair to balance precariously on two legs. “Laurie,” He elbowed the man sitting beside him. “Are you contributing to this plan?”

Lauriam sighed. Heavily. But when he looked up, his eyes were alight with his usual dashing cockiness. With a practiced flick, he tossed his hair over his shoulder.

“Why not? We all know you would be lost without me.”

“Dang.” Braig passed five bucks to Luxord.

“Yes!” He pumped a fist in the air. “It's Demy-”

“DON'T.” Thirteen voices shouted all at once.

-

“-So while Strike Team Alpha is busy working on-”

“Hang on. Who decided these names?”

“I did.”

“So we don't even get to pick our own team names?” Luxord briefly looked up from shuffling his cards, frowning at the RA. “That seems unfair.”

“Would you prefer if I let Ienzo pick your squadron name?” Xemnas responded cooly.

“Alpha is fine.”

-

“Lea, why do all of your plans involve arson?” Dilan didn't seem scolding, just… genuinely curious. Lea just shrugged in response.

“It's a very simple problem solving method. Problem, meet fire. Boom, problem solved.”

“Boom literally, or boom metaphorically?”

He waved a hand back and forth, making a so-so gesture.

“Eh.”

“Permission to remove Lea from Team Himbo?” Aeleus asked, the request directed at Xemnas, who had at some point decided to elevate his chair on a stack of textbooks to clearly identify his status. Whatever he was going to say, however, was interrupted by an accusatory shriek from Elrena.

“Wait, why did _they_ get to name their team?”

“They named their team _that_ and you're complaining?”

“We have an honest understanding of our skillset.” Aeleus deadpanned.

“Permission to vote Demyx to Team Himbo?”

“HEY!”

-

“There's no way.” Riku’s back was beginning to get a nasty crick in it, he’d been staring at this map so long. “It's just too far. From Bastion Charter to Kingdom High is twenty minutes, minimizing risks of getting pulled over. It's just cutting it too close.” Still, he traced the streets over and over again, looking for some shortcut that they’d missed. Sora gently tugged his wrist away, forcing him to take a step back. Riku almost slumped into the crook of his neck (how was it so dang comfy?), height difference be darned.

“What if we cut through Daybreak park? If we went on the diagonal, that cuts...” Sora paused as he did the math in his head, simultaneously rubbing little circles on Riku’s shoulders as he thought. “Ten minutes?” Across the table, Even shook his head.

“Not with a car we couldn't. The pavement is only designed for pedestrians, so trying to drive the truck through would mostly likely just get us stuck. And arrested.” he added, almost as an afterthought. Sora fumbled for his phone.

“Hang on. I made a groupchat for a reason.”

-

The dining room was beginning to get a bit crowded.

Ventus was sharing half a chair with Laurium, who looked none too pleased with the situation, and Vanitas had given up on chairs entirely, perching on top of the kitchen island like a gargoyle. Even Ryu was there, scrunched in the corner, and doing his best to derail the conversation into making fun of his brother at every opportunity.

“Okay.” Xemnas slammed his hands on the tabletop, commanding everyone’s attention. “Do all teams have their orders?”

Demyx grinned, shredding a quick melody on his guitar.

“Alpha is ready.”

Lea fingergunned.

“Himbo is standing by.”

Ryu clapped Riku on the back.

“The Lovebirds are good to go.”

Kairi squeezed her boyfriends’ hands, and the three of them shared a private smile, the kind of smile that makes a person look complete and beautiful when it falls carelessly across their face. If anyone had had any lingering doubt over this operation, it evaporated in the love that lit up the room when she pressed a kiss to each of their cheeks.

“Let’s put on a show.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you strip away the murder and the treason and the emotional constipation, Organization XIII is a Chaotic Disasters found family. No I do not take constructive criticism. We're smack dab in the final act of this story, and if you thought I was going to tone down the stupidity and melodrama, well, you haven't been paying very much attention. We're talking about a cast of characters whose problem solving methods almost universally include getting possessed by a supervillian.   
> Insert apologies about the time between this chapter and the last here. By this point, you guys know the drill, and for anyone reading these non-updatedly, I want these notes to have some semblance of entertainment, instead of just "The author is very sorry that their understanding of linear time is exceptionally broken'. But the author is sorry, will be trying very hard to figure out how these things called "Calendars" work.  
> Until that happy day where I can reasonably predict deadlines, I'll see y'all next time.


	15. Chapter 15

Sora had spent so many months practicing for and looking forward to this match, he almost forgot he had anything else to be nervous about.

It wasn't until the end of the second quarter, when he was about to pass overhand to Ventus to get the Bastion attackman off his case, that he happened to glance over his teammate’s shoulder, and catch a glimpse of pink, fluffy hair in the crowd. And he remembered what else the evening held.

He tripped.

The ball went bouncing off down the court, and the huddle of athletes chased after it, while Sora had just enough time to be thankful he’d replaced his elbow guards just last week; his old ones would have definitely left him with some bruises. As it was, when he hit the ground, tumbling and splaying, his arms caught most of the impact and it just felt like someone had used his bones as bungee cord. He blinked back to awareness, and the first thing he saw was Laurium in the stands. Hiding a smirk.

Which didn't help his newly acquired stress.

Sora peeled himself off the floor, using his stick as a crutch. Focus. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Terra frown and lean forward, eyebrows furrowed in concern. Sora waved him off. He wasn’t hurt, just a little shaken from being hit by; One) the ground, and Two) the crazy plan that had somehow vanished from his mind the second the whistle blew.

It wasn’t even that he was ditching the first game of the season with the help of a half dozen colorfully crowned college students. But it was that, usually when he played, his focus narrowed, and the whirl that constantly sped through his brain quieted, and nothing, not even a stray concern or weird musing, was allowed to disturb him until it was over. The fact that his thoughts had suddenly decided to turn to something that wasn't the game… well, it quite literally threw him off balance.

He threw a quick thumbs up to Terra. The coach smiled, but his attention quickly pulled to the other end of the court, as Vanitas swatted away a shot from the goal. A roar rippled through the crowd at the close call, and the goalie himself grinned, whooping along with them.

The sharp beep of the clock interrupted the yells, and Sora almost sighed in relief. The rest of the players dispersed, drifting to their respective sides of the gym for the quick break, and Sora was more than happy to follow suit. Trying to work some feeling back into his arms, he reached up and tugged his helmet off, jogging over to their bench.

“All right there?” A hand thumped him on the shoulder. Roxas peered at him, his eyes still alight with the fervor of adrenaline. But Sora could see the same thing that had messed him up just moments ago buzzing through his friend as well: Apprehension and excitement that had nothing to do with the game. Sora nodded.

“Yeah. Didn’t even get a scrape.”

“Thank goodness,” Ventus laughed, too loudly, ambling over. He threw a water bottle at Sora’s face, and, yup, he was definitely nervous, because it clocked him in the side of the head. He regretted already removing his helmet.

“Ven, we need to have a talk on what ‘looking natural’ actually entails.” Roxas drawled. He glanced around for Terra, but the man was on the other end of the gym, being thoroughly distracted by Vanitas, and a beat-for-beat retelling of the last minute save, wild pantomime included. Satisfied, he turned back.

“I’m not good at this whole rule breaking thing.” Ventus complained, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well, you’re still young.”

“ _Roxas_.” He sighed, but any whining was cut off when he caught Sora’s eye, and saw the nerves that he was sure were making him practically vibrate. “You good, cap?”

Tightly, Sora gripped the water bottle, twisting the lid back and forth.

“Five minutes?” he verified. Roxas pulled off his gloves, glancing at his watch.

“Four, now.”

“Guess I got to get going.”

Hidden by the two of them, he leaned against the door that was tucked away behind the bench, next to the locker rooms, and twisted the handle as casually as possible. Then, he just let himself fall back, slipping away.

The halls were strangely empty, outside the crowded bleaches of the gym and away from the general clamor that comes from packing a couple dozen people in a smelly, poorly ventilated, glorified auditorium. Weirdly, the silence was almost more assaulting than the ruckus. Sora took a moment to orient himself.

He had just enough time to collect his thoughts and realize that standing directly in front of the door was maybe not the best idea. He took a step back.

And not a moment too soon. The rose perfume announced Laurium himself did, slipping through the door and gently closing it behind him, far more subtly Sora had. “Do you have the keys?” he asked.

“Present,” A voice at the end of the hall reported, before Sora could even open his mouth. “Though I do not understand how I was dragged into this.”

They turned, and took in the crew that was leaning against the lockers. Xemnas, the one who had spoken, had taken a stance that proudly showed off his platform boots, one foot behind him and flat against the wall, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. He was wearing a ridiculous coat too, a black and white leather get-up that Sora was fairly confident hadn't been in fashion since the seventies. But it matched well with his silver hair and he’d promised them they could help, in their weird way, so he kept his mouth shut.

To his left, Elrena was touching up her makeup, checking in a compact mirror as she applied emerald green lipstick. Her normal gravity defying bangs were now, instead, pulled back into twin buns, and she’d spruced up a plain dark dress by adding a sky blue leather jacket, and a huge gaudy necklace of the gangs’ signature X.

And Demyx… Well, he looked the same as when Sora last saw him. Unkempt mullet, oversized black hoodie, converse with the laces loose and a tripping hazard waiting to happen. But he’d popped a pair of silver earrings in, so this was probably as formal as he got.

“I wasn’t talking about you, Xemnas.” Laurium folded up the sleeves of his dress shirt, donning a handsome rose patterned waistcoat in the time it took Sora to blink. “Keys?”

“Yeah.” Sora spun the lid off the water bottle Ventus had chucked at him, tipping it into his hand to reveal it's contents; instead of liquid, a ring of keys, begged off Coach Terra. Though he didn’t know what excuse Ven had come up. Maybe he’d just asked politely.

It took a few seconds, seconds Sora was painfully aware of, (How many seconds now, until the game resumed? He was awful at conversions.) but he managed to wriggle the one labelled ‘ **gym, bck. door** ’ off and toss it to Laurium.

“Get going, dude,” Demyx said. His guitar was slung over one shoulder, and the variety of cases they’d all been juggling were being opened to reveal a drum kit, which he was piecing together with all the casualness of someone who’d done this many times. Sora was almost tempted to ask. Surely, there couldn’t be too many opportunities to get practice sneaking musical instruments into a public building.

The clock ticking in his head yanked him back to earth.

Passing one final glance over the motley crew, Sora assured himself that they would be fine. Elrena had moved away from Laurium, who had somehow pulled a collapsible mic stand out of his bag, and was fiddling with a variety of chords. If he had to guess, Sora would say she was trying to plug a drums set into an amplifier. Xemnas was busy placing the keyboard onto its frame, grumbling the whole time on how he’d been roped into this plan. Though, he noted, the grumpy RA was making no attempt to _not_ contribute.

Three minutes. Right.

Turning on his heel, Sora took off running.

Racing through the empty hallways of the school was steadily becoming a common occurrence for him. As he jogged past silent classrooms, he couldn't help but think all of those preceding times. The first day of new term, sprinting alongside Riku and Kairi as they tried not to be late to drama. Holding Kairi’s hand, being pulled along to a sign up sheet he was finally feeling brave enough for. Charging through as he had to find Riku, elated and scared as a thousand new possibilities came pouring out of a box in his head he hadn’t realized he’d locked away.

Now that he thought about it, these halls were one of the only witnesses to their love story.

“But not after tonight,” he promised himself. After tonight, he could gush all he wanted, and something a little more sentient than drywall would know that he was dating his best friends.

Isa and Ienzo were exactly where they had promised they’d be, loitering outside the almost-literal-broom-closet that was the schools tech office. It was locked, of course, but Sora would soon see to that, skidding to a stop in front of the doorknob and kneeling down.

“Are the others alright?” Isa asked, and Sora just nodded in answer. Two minutes. With more forceful of a yank than was strictly necessary, he pulled the door open, and ushered them inside.

“Password?” Ienzo called out, as plopped into the desk chair, and booted up the ancient system. The mysterious server tower exhaled a creaky, groaning complaint, before it obliged, and the screen flickered to life. Isa pulled a face at the clouds of dust, retreating to the corner.

Sora wasn’t afraid of the grime, and he was nervous enough that all the odd baubles strewn about were a welcome distraction.

“T-L-A-W login. All one word, first four letters capitalized,” he answered, as he picked up the blue baseball cap placed on one of the filing cabinets. The embroidered stars across the brim were the perfect texture to take his mind off his nerves. Even if the star motif reminded him of Kairi, halfway across town and trying to pull off her own heist.

“What on earth does that mean?” Isa asked. Sora shrugged.

“I don't know. The janitor here is weird.”

Isa grunted in agreement, eyes critically roaming the gunk and clutter that coated every surface. With a sigh, he knelt to inspect a tangle of wires under one of the machines.

“You know,” Ienzo hummed, as he set to work, fingers tapping away on the clackety keyboard. “Library sciences is a pretty niche field, but I somehow never imagined applying it like this.”

“Well, I’m sure it will look good on your resume,” Isa replied cooly, his voice somewhat muffled by the wall of cardboard boxes he’d had to crawl behind to access the plugs. “Applications of skills: Hacking high school PA system.”

“Not hacking, even in the slightest.” Ienzo retorted, as he opened up an icon aptly named ‘Lights’. Sora agreed, it didn't look anything like hacking. It looked more like when Riku was staying over late, laptop perched on crossed legs, and swiveled the screen around to ask him for his opinion on some stage programming he couldn’t begin to make sense of. Hopefully, some of it had sunk in.

“Alright, so that one controls the scoreboard.” He hovered at Ienzo’s shoulder, pointing out the million different sliders and boxes that he, thankfully, recognized a few of. Still, he didn’t put down the hat, smacking it against his thigh as he thought. “This one’s the overall dimness adjustor. And I think this is the main lights? Or maybe it’s the spotlight.”

“They’re pretty different,” Ienzo mumbled, but nonetheless, his fingers tapped away at the keys with lightning speed, all too aware of the timer hanging over their heads.

One minute.

“Isa.” He leaned back from the screen, pushed his bangs out of his face, and grinned. “You’re up.”

Isa muttered a few curses, but managed to extract himself from the wiring, wriggling backwards with an unrealistic amount of dignity for someone whose with a huge spider web caught in their hair. Triumphantly, he held up a chord. Slotting it into the weird machine that looked like a combination speaker/answering machine, he cleared his throat.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and all other viewers of this evening’s game,” Immediately, Sora understood why Isa had been volunteered for this role. His voice was authoritative and booming, and he was almost convinced that they had _always_ had a halftime announcer. Isa reached into a pocket, procuring a bundle of notecards, and continued. “Our team, and the opponents, will be back, but please enjoy this mid-game entertainment. Everyone, please give a warm welcome to,” He flipped over the card, and bit off a sigh. “Demyx and the Nocturnes.”

Ienzo didn’t bother to stifle his chuckle, sliding the gym lights to darkness, then, powering up a single spotlight. On the screen in the corner, Sora could make out the instruments that had appeared like magic, and the four figures stepping into the light. He should get going, but he held his breath, and watched. To the front of the group, Demyx stepped up, and spoke something into the mike, and even though the feed wasn’t capable of streaming sound (thankfully), Sora could almost hear the smile in his voice. Then Laurium jokingly shoved him away, and took his place as singer.

And they started playing.

Again, there was no sound, but if he craned his ears, he could almost make out the notes, booming from down the hall, and the lack of a riot breaking out. And honestly, from the camera, they didn’t look half bad. Elrena was like lightning, her drumsticks spinning in her hands in a blur, as Demyx grinned and jammed on his guitar. Xemnas wasn't smiling, not by a long shot, but he seemed to be enjoying the attention of the crowd, flipping his hair every five seconds, drinking in the spotlight. And Laurium looked born to the stage.

Sora grabbed all that stage presence, tucking it away for later luck as he hoped that his own performance would go well.

He needed all the good luck he could get.

“We’ll see you soon.” Ienzo swiveled around in his chair, giving Sora a soft smile, and the rare sight of both of his eyes. He’d need to stay of course, handling the lighting and maintaining the illusions that this was all planned. But every one of the members of the thirteenth had sworn, on their houseshare agreement, to try and make it for at least the last song of the show. “Once they both realize that the other team did not bring a halftime show.”

“Or their ears burn off,” Isa suggested.

“Thank you guys.” It was all he could really say, in the face of a dozen friends with surely way better things to do on their Friday night, instead banding together to help the three of them.

Isa waved him off.

“Don’t thank us until this works.”

“Yeah,” Ienzo turned back to the screen, piecing together lighting cues and diving into impromptu stage managing. One hand still clicking at the mouse, he raised the other behind him, shooing Sora away. “Go catch your ride.”

*

Within the first minutes of talking to Vanitas, one could always come to a series of conclusions.

One, his hair color was not, in fact, naturally ebony. Though he would claim otherwise even in the face of the overwhelming pile of evidence, the raven locks were just the result of seven years of regular dye jobs. Anyone could tell immediately by the simple fact that his eyelashes were messily, but purposefully, stained with eyeliner.

Second, anyone with a set of eyes could see that he clearly loved his brother. (Though he also denied this.) But by the way he casually slung his arm around the blond’s shoulder, the nonstop teasing, and just the underlying fondness in his voice showed that, underneath a dozen layers of snark and bad attitude, he really did care.

And the third wasn’t really a revelation; just the quiet realization that you should never, _ever_ , trust him with sharp objects, heavy machinery, or your life.

_Well,_ thought Sora, _I only failed on two out of three._

“Here,” Vanitas called, throwing something over his shoulder. He didn’t bother to look back to see if Sora had caught it. Instead, he forged ahead, shrugging on his jacket against the crisp air of the evening that had fallen since the team arrived. Sora, fumbling to keep ahold of the helmet he’d been tossed, trailed after, and wondered why he’d agreed to this.

_Because it’s the fastest way to Riku and Kairi._ That was enough to make him square his shoulders, and follow Vanitas into the gringy parking lot tucked behind Bastion Charter. Just like everywhere else in the school that wasn’t the gym, it was deserted: the lights not yet on for the night but the sky just a smudge too dark to be called day, a breeze ruffling the trees, and the only occupants of the asphalt lot a few dumpsters and a single, midnight black, motorcycle.

Sora eyed the thing warily.

Vanitas, of course, had no idea exactly what a scary hellbeast the bike was. He swung one leg over and sank into the seat, beginning some collection of tiny adjustments and checks. But Sora knew. Sora had seen him and Ven in the mornings, arriving in a cloud of grit and traffic violations. He’d been to their house on weekends and seen it gleaming in the dim sunlight of the garage, still somehow giving a menacing aura even as Van stripped out the parts and cleaned them meticulously. He’d heard it, the rev of the engine that he swore could be heard through four classrooms when the two of them left after practice.

Van loved it, of course. He loved it to (and in) pieces, so Sora had never been able to quite voice his concerns that giving their resident delinquent a motorbike seemed like a horrible idea.

“Sora?” Vanitas finally finished his pre-drive checklist, and looked up, seeing that Sora was frozen, unmoving from his spot exactly six feet away from the monstrosity. His grin, sharp and spirited, like it always was when he put his palms to the handlebars, dropped. “Shit, is it the engine noise? I have some earplugs in my-”

“No.” Sora shook his head. If he was expecting it, he could deal with it just fine, and besides, he’d already agreed to this, he couldn’t stall, what was he hoping to do? “It’s just the idea of you and a forty horse power engine…” Vanitas rolled his eyes.

“Get on the bike, Sora.”

“Ah. Okay.” The helmet Vanitas had given him was a little small, being on loan from Ven, but he crammed it on, fastening the strap as he took a seat and tried not to think about the time Vanitas had gotten into a grudge match with a squirrel that stole his lunch.

“Hold on,” Vanitas warned, and Sora could practically hear the smirk in his voice as he revved the engine (which was in fact, loud). He almost clapped his hands to his ears, but some basic survival instinct kicked it, and his grip instead encircled Vanitas’s waist. He had just enough time for a quick prayer and a silent apology to his moms in case he didn’t make it

And then the world blurred.

The thrum the engine, he’d thought, would be like a tiny localised earthquake, and though it had certainly roared to life with a rumble that echoed through his clenched muscles, after a minute, it quieted to a soft thrum. The air felt like a leafblower pointed directly at his chest, and he _had_ expected that, though he was upset he’d had the foresight to imagine what it would be like but apparently not enough to bring a jacket. Vanitas wasn’t exactly warm, and his original plan (Press his face directly against Van’s back and squinch his eyes closed and don’t think about anything until he was back on solid ground), was made a little unfeasible by the helmet’s face shield.

Though he still had his eyes shut, and didn’t plan on changing that anytime soon.

If he looked, he would be able to see the scenery flashing by too fast to process, and the wheels spinning so close to him. He could probably see the exact second Vanitas decided to show off, and they collided with a stop sign.

Though, as he squeezed Vanitas into a tighter and tighter death grip, he realized that, under the background tone of the bike and its buzzing motor, he could hear something else.

Vanitas was _humming_.

“Relax,” He somehow sounded casual. Heck, he almost sounded like he was holding back a laugh, as Sora felt the bike turn and they took a corner. Vanitas had zippers on his jacket pockets, right? He reached for one of those. Zip, zhop, zip. “I’m not going to crash us.”

“Sorry, but forgive me for not-” Sora squeaked as he felt them swerve again. The distraction of the zipper, the steady repetitive fidget, helped his mind, but there wasn’t much he could do to distract himself from picturing an awful automotive accident. “-really believing we’ll make it to the school in one piece.”

Vanitas huffed out a laugh.

“Are your eyes closed?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, open them.” The eyeroll was implied. Vanitas went back to steering, and humming to himself, and didn't try to say anything else. He didn’t even tell Sora to stop fiddling, though it couldn't be comfortable. Really, he was such a good friend, for even agreeing to this; driving him halfway across town in a stupid act that could lose them the game and possibly their places on the team.

The least he could do was what he’d asked.

Sora opened his eyes.

They weren’t on a street. The bike was zooming across the smooth paving of a bridge, the boardwalk that hugged the edge of Daybreak park, the ocean on one side, the manicured greenspace on the other. He recognized the shape it traced, had traced it himself, on the map at the thirteenth’s kitchen table.

It looked a million times more beautiful in real life.

The sea was just catching the last of the lights’ rays, blue and gray and gold all mixed together, and tossed around by the waves, so the colors changed, shifting every few moments like a kaleidoscope. The sky was perfect too, just as multifaceted in shades of clouds and the traces of sunset. A few people played in the park, but mostly the scene was empty, save for them and the trees and the twinkling lights of a city just beginning to shift into evening.

“Huh,” was all he could say, as he took it all it. Took it in, not speeding past his eyes in a blur, just quietly moving by.

Vanitas didn’t scoff at his wordless gawking.

“The quiet’s nice,” he commented instead, as they sailed along the bridge. He said it like he was talking to himself, as he readjusted his gloves, but being heard through helmets and above the sound of the engine wasn’t easy, and Vanitas injected just enough volume into his words to make them heard. “It’s good, not having to put up with idiots and stupid jabbering.” He thought for another moment. “The rush is good too.”

The rush. Sora understood that. It was a scary feeling, to put your whole self into something that might backfire completely, to not know how you might come out the other side. And then to master it, to learn all you could, while still getting the electric running through you even as you were in control. He smiled, remembering it.

“When I first sang with Kairi, it felt like that.”

“Ergo, idiot, “ It really was impressive, the way he could let you know he was rolling his eyes, even when you couldn’t see his face. “I'm not going to crash or do anything stupid like that.” Then, he leaned over and adjusted a mirror. “Look behind you.”

Sora trusted he wouldn’t fall. So he turned in his seat, craning behind him, holding on to Van with just one hand. On the other end of the boardwalk, he could just make out a pair of twin blurs.

Sora blinked, and the blurs solidified into two identical heads of windswept hair. And they were moving, following them down the boardwalk: Roxas and Ventus, on skateboards.

Roxas laughed, throwing up a peace sign, as Ventus, shockingly, managed to keep pace. He might look a little unsteady, and didn’t have the carefree attitude to wave, being too concentrated on not falling to the asphalt, but still.

“They’ll be right behind us,” Vanitas assured him. The smirk crawled back into his voice though, as he sat forward. “Though there's no way to keep up.”

Anticipating, Sora tightened his grip around Vanitas’s waist. The engine revved, and Roxas and Ventus became blurs again, as the motorcycle shot off through the dark.

And sped off into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have escaped 2020!  
> A hearty thank you to anyone reading this who stayed with this story through my hellish updating schedule that was the last few months. Without you, I can quite honestly say that this chapter may have never seen physical transcription from brain to paper.  
> This chapter was a tough one for me to write, not just for the hecticness that has categorized the last few days, but because when I started writing HSM, I knew I wanted a “Demyx-band-high-school-escape-motorcycle” chapter, probably with some dramatic music and cool lens flare. I had no idea what that chapter would look like. So writing this felt akin to stumbling through a cave blindfolded and hoping to find treasure.  
> The other thing that gave me trouble is that, despite being an avid Kingdom Hearts fan, I have never played Birth By Sleep, so my references for them come solely from any parts they had in KH3. And Vanitas gets about one scene in that game. But, he demanded to be in this story, so I had to draft and re-draft the latter half of this chapter about a half dozen times, and I’m still not completely satisfied with it. But, I’ve kept y’all waiting long enough, so as they say, the show must go on. Sorry Van :(   
> And the show will go on in a much shorter break than this one! I’ll be back into two weeks with the penultimate chapter. See y’all then!


	16. Chapter 16

“That is the end of round one! Participants, please take your seats. The judges will now discuss among themselves.”

Kairi slumped in her chair, buzzing, but still relieved that her part was over. Debate competitions, even the low stakes local ones hosted by the public library, like this one, made her mind race. Counterarguments and supporting evidence and an underlying reminder to speak with confidence; it was fun and demanding work that she loved. But it was also _tiring_. Idly, she scrunched her hands into the soft felt that was covering the table. Like Sora would, if he were here, and that thought comforted her more than the plush texture.

Thanks to Xion, her slot on the team had been ‘mysteriously’ moved up, and, now that the first round was over with, if this were a normal night the only thing left for her to do would be to drink some water, and cheer on her teammates as they took the stage.

Of course, this wasn't a normal night, evidenced by the fact that the podium suddenly caught on fire.

Olette, the girl who’d been about to take her place at the stand, threw her hands in the air and nearly tripped over herself as she scrambled backwards. To Kairi’s left, someone screamed. And then the fire alarm wailed.

Everyone was scared, almost stampeding.

“Now now everyone, no need to panic.” Near the front of the audience, a man from the PTA parent section stood up. “I’m sure this will be resolved shortly. Until then, would everyone file outside. No pushing!”

Shepherded by the man’s commands, the occupants of the room quickly exited. Some looked confused, or concerned, throwing worried looks to the stage and the podium, still cheerily burning away like an olympic torch. But, it didn't seem to be spreading, and it was hard to resist the natural authority of a confident blonde with a british accent. So, in less than five minutes, the room was empty, save for a small inferno.

And Xion and Kairi, crouched under a table.

“Is the coast clear?” Xion asked after a few moments. The table hadn't exactly been designed with the purpose of two teenage girls huddled underneath it in mind, so it was an awkward fit. They were squashed next to each other in a tangle. And on top of that, between the fire, tablecloth, hoodie, and body heat of another person, it was uncomfortably warm. Kairi was more than happy to poke her head out and take a look.

“All clear,” she reported. Crawling out from their hiding spot, she glanced around one more time, checking and double-checking that every part of the plan was in place. The room? Empty. The window? Unlocked. The podium? Completely charred, but nothing around it was threatening to catch. “Man, Lea wasn't kidding. Those flames are staying right where they are.”

“We soaked the floorboards with water this afternoon.” Xion boosted herself up, waving away Kairi’s outstretched hand. “Lea hasn’t let a fire get out of control since that accident with Even.”

“What a vote of confidence.”

“Hey! His eyebrows grew back. Eventually.” a voice behind them objected. In the window Kairi had just looked at, Lea sat on the sill, his smile almost as outrageous as his hair. In one hand, he fidgeted with his lighter, clicking the lid on and off. “Besides Xion, that was years ago!” His expression turned to serious, and he glanced around the room. “Seriously though, no one got hurt, right? I thought I heard a scream.”

“Don’t worry,” Xion assured him. “Olette’s almost as good an actor as Kairi.” _That_ was news to Kairi. Her eyebrows shot up.

“What did you tell her?”

“The next discussion topic is fire safety. I told her we were just adding a little oomph to our argument.” She must have been making a worried face, because Xion hurried to promise her, “Don’t worry, no one outside The Thirteen will know until you tell them.”

“I was more concerned about what it says about our debate club that she considered that a reasonable course of action,” Kairi joked. But it did help, and she found a muscle she hadn’t realized was clenched relax, her shoulders untightening. Xion, all or their friends, were willing to lie, to toe the law, just to give her and the boys a chance to define themselves on their own terms.

Unbidden, she felt heat prick at the corners of her eyes.

“-Everyone loves a good fire. Good ol’ razzle and dazzle.” Lea’s banter brought her back to herself. “Speaking of,” He turned and waved to something out of sight. “Ziggy!”

A one eyed face poked into the window. Kairi had to admit, with the black overcoat and the background of crackling flames, Braig totally did look like a supervillain.

Well, he would, if not for the two gigantic, neon colored water guns he was holding.

“Heya, poppets,” the gunslinger greeted. Taking Lea’s place in the window, he took aim at the fire that was starting to smolder itself out, and fired. Twin streams of water did the rest of the job. Soon, the podium was just faintly smoking and blackened.

“Are you ready?” Lea asked her, holding out the lighter-free hand to Kairi, just like she’d done for Xion. Those pricks at her eyes were back, and her stomach did a bellyflop.

“One second.” Kairi turned to her friend. “You know what to say?”

“That you valiantly escaped out the window and I totally saw you just a second ago, yeah guys, Kairi is fine? You could fly to Mexico and I’d cover for you so amazingly no one would notice.” Xion smiled, tucking her choppy bangs to the side, and Kairi believed her completely. Everything would be all right.

She crushed Xion with a hug.

“Thank you,” She murmured into her shoulder, closing her eyes and washing away those uncomfortable spots of heat. “From the boys too.”

Xion hugged her back, just as hard.

“Anytime.” Then she pulled away, and thumped Kairi’s shoulder. “Break a leg.”

She nodded. She took Lea’s hand, and, with his help, boosted herself out the window. He escorted her around the back, to a dinged and scratched pickup truck idling by the street. Aeleus and Dilan were clambering out of the back, dressed like firefighters, and hurried past to the crowd that was gathering by the front doors. After all, if the actual department showed up, they would have some awkward questions to answer.

Even, already in the drivers seat, popped the door.

Kairi sat down beside him and fastened her seatbelt, trying to pin the strange pressure building in her gut. She wasn’t worried about Xion or the rest of the gang, she wasn’t nervous for the upcoming show, she wasn’t carsick from Even’s reckless driving.

She was excited, for whatever lay beyond this evening.

*

The second the car rolled to a stop at the curb of the highschool, Kairi was out. (She would have leapt out _before_ the engine died, if she wasn't wearing heels.) With a nod to Even, she strode up the pavement, towards the familiar silhouette by the door.

Riku looked like a guard on duty, his back straight and eyes roving back and forth, peering into the evening. When he saw her though, it all melted away. And he smiled, a soft, excited smile, as he relaxed and stepped forward to greet her, and any nerves or reservations that Kairi might have had disappeared. Because Riku looked so beautiful when he smiled, and he was smiling just from the simple fact that she was here. Stagefright be damned, she was excited to be onstage with him. With Sora.

She unzipped her hoodie, the one Riku had very begrudgingly given back to her so she could wear it tonight over her costume. Debate meets were semi-formal, but she would have raised a few eyebrows (and suspicions) wearing the gorgeous gown. And Namine had also made it very clear that she was lending the outfit to Kairi out of trust and if she got even the _tiniest_ stain on it, Ms. Aqua would never let her near the theater again. She untied the wrap-around skirt she’d been wearing too, completing the transformation.

“You look beautiful,” Riku told her. He was much closer now, close enough to kiss. So she did just that, a quick smooch on his cheek so she wouldn't smudge his lipstick. In her new shoes, she didn't even need to stand on her toes to do so.

“You're not so bad yourself,” she teased him, and he flushed. He did though, in a soft grey suit jacket and a dark blue dress that ended just below his knees, the skirt fluffed to poofiness with layers of tulle that slowly faded from indigo to periwinkle. The outfit was matched with charcoal leggings and sensible dancing shoes. His hair looked soft and wonderful, glowing in the moonlight, and his eyes were even more striking than usual with the dramatic stage makeup.

“Close your eyes,” he muttered. She obliged, and felt an eyeliner pencil sketch along her lashes. Riku was silent as he worked, touching up her makeup with practiced ease, but privately, she grinned, knowing that he was blushing through his rouge. Him and Sora were still getting flustered every time she complimented them. She scrunched her nose at the tickly sensation of an eyeshadow brush, dusting light pink across her lids.

“How do I look?” she heard Sora behind her, that familiar affable voice. But she had to wait to see him, else she’d mess up Riku’s handiwork by whipping around and getting a streak of lipliner across her cheek. Sadly, Riku seemed distracted. He hadn’t breathed in a good thirty seconds, his hands frozen in place.

Kairi cleared her throat.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry,” he shook himself back to focus, and finished the color, tracing her smile that had cropped up with the reminder that her boyfriend was a lovestruck _doofus_. Kairi laughed, then turned to greet Sora.

To be fair to Riku, he looked absolutely adorable, in his little vest and loose shirt. The costume was nothing too fancy, true to the role of poor musician, but it had a charm to it all it's own, and when paired with Sora’s thousand watt smile, he looked so perfectly _him_.

In three big steps, she strode forward had him scooped up bridal style, and they were both giggling as she marched to the doors. Riku rolled his eyes, but he huffed out a small chuckle, as he crouched to administer a makeup check. Sora’s skin was darker than either of theirs, so he didn’t need powder. Just a hint of mascara, a touch of gloss, and they were ready.

“I love you guys,” Sora announced, still refusing to let go of Kairi. She laughed, and leaned down to rub their foreheads together.

“I love you guys too.” They, very deliberately, didn’t look at Riku. They loved Riku, he knew they knew he loved them back, but he’d always had the hardest time verbalizing his feelings and didn’t like to say things to the object of his affections-

“You two messed up your hair,” he grumbled, and they both laughed, because of course, that was their Riku, and Kairi still didn’t let go of Sora, so he had to step closer and fix it for them, soft fingers brushing aside bangs and tucking stray locks behind their ears- “If I didn’t love you so much, I’d report you to Namine for styling misconduct.”

Oh.

That was also their Riku. Growing into someone else, someone different and lovely and surprising, all the time. Kairi wondered if Sora had just felt the soaring tug in the bottom of his gut that she had, the headrush of giddy certainty.

Judging by the quick squeeze he gave her, she was guessing he had.

“Five minutes ‘till places.” Riku’s brother opened the door they were all loitering in front of. They all jumped, (except Sora, who was still in her arms, who more accurately ‘jolted’) remembering that other people existed besides the three of them. He was also dressed to the nines, in a smart black suit, which somehow made his intense scowl a great deal funnier. He turned to the three of them. “So quit your mushy couple stuff and get inside.”

“Thank you five!” they chorused, and Ryu rolled his eyes. He disappeared back inside. Leaving them alone, standing together on a threshold and slightly drunk off of what had just happened, what was about to happen. Kairi was the first to step forward.

Because with one boyfriend in your arms, and the other standing by your side, makeup freshly done and dressed to kill, before you go and sing your feelings to the crowd, who wouldn’t feel ready to take on the world?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second to last chapter of this fic! I’m absolutely flabbergasted that I’ve come this far.  
> As I’ve said before, I’ve been in and around a few productions in my day. And if there’s one thing I love, it’s the weird buzz of energy right before a show, so this chapter is a just a nice buffer of fluffy srk and opening night fuzzies, before we finish off with the last chapter, and song, of this fic.  
> I tried not to go overboard with my outfit descriptions, but fun fact! Each of the destiny kids costumes is a little nod to musical theatre character: Sora’s outfit was based off of Orpheus from Hadestown, Riku’s dress is a color swapped version of Julie Molina’s finale dress from JATP (Coincidentally, also directed by Kenny Ortega, who directed the original High School Musical), and Kairi’s dress is 100% inspired by this [ gorgeous art](https://teganberry.tumblr.com/post/623719768860540928/sokai-week-2020-bonus-sokai-week-2020-may-be) by teganberry. I actually think this entire fic was partially inspired by their work, and that piece in particular. So you should 100% go tell them how amazing their art is, because it kicked me into writing fifty thousand words. (Holy wow, is that how long this fic is? Jeebus.)  
> Well, here’s to seeing you guys next time.  
> PS: There's another outfit homage in the previous chapter, this one to an animated musical icon of the early 2000s. Ten points to anyone who can guess it.


End file.
